SINE DIE!!
On July 20th, 2017, the legislature adjourned Sine Die. Unfortunately, they did not pass a capital budget prior to adjourning, which means many projects will be halted and even more new projects will not begin. The Governor stated that he is prepared to call them back for a fourth special session IF they reach an agreement and would simply be coming in to vote.
As you are probably aware, the Senate majority expressed that they would not pass a complete capital budget until there was agreement on a Hirst fix. The Hirst decision by the Supreme Court has to do with water/drilling rights, and while there was agreement that a fix was necessary, there was not agreement about what it should entail. As a result, in spite of the fact that the House passed a complete capital budget with just one no vote, the Senate majority would not bring it to the floor for a vote. And since the 20th was the last day of the third special session, time ran out to come up with an agreed-upon solution.
Again, if an agreement is reached on the Hirst fix, the Governor could call them back to vote on it and a capital budget.
Please know that we are trying to provide factual information, recognizing that different people have different information and different ‘takes’ on the situation!
It is now time to move on to the interim… which will be a very busy one. Numerous bills and budget items need to be implemented – the truly hard part of the process! Top on the list of implementation items for POC are the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, as well as the children’s mental health bills that passed. But POC will be following implementation of many other bills/budget items and encourage you to do the same!
Also, better late than never: Our final budget analysis is hot off the press!
This will likely be the final weekly update for the remainder of the interim; however, if the legislature is called back for another special session, we’ll let you know what happens!
We hope that you have found these weekly updates useful and that you have a good interim! We’ll be back in January 2018!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us anytime at info@partnersforourchildren.org. Please also visit us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates on our work throughout the year.
Enjoy the summer!
Laurie Lippold
Public Policy Director
