The second half of the 2019 legislative session has begun!! Wednesday March 13th at 5:00 was the cut-off for bills to get out of their original house. Since the fiscal committee cut-off on March 1, the House and Senate have spent their time debating and passing bills. And while many bills passed, many did not, and therefore are dead.
EXCEPT for when they aren’t dead! Some bills are deemed necessary to implement the budget (NTIB) and are exempt from the cut-off. These bills are typically revenue type bills, but others also can be given that designation. Some bills will be amended, in full, or part, on to living bills while making their way through the other chamber. And some manage to come up through other procedural moves, although that option is less likely!
We have attempted to identify the dead bills and they are marked as dead in the
Partners for Our Children bill tracker. However, since some might come back in the form of an amendment, we don’t want to completely erase them from view! It can get a bit challenging to follow all of the ins and outs of the process, but we will do our best to do so, and hopefully make it at least somewhat understandable!
Since there is no rest for the weary, committee hearings started up again on the 14th at 8:00 a.m. Committees now are hearing bills that came over from the other side and have until April 3rd to get them heard, potentially amended, and passed. Bills with fiscal implications either go to the Ways and Means or Appropriations committees where they have until April 8th for the House and April 9th for the Senate to get out. Then it’s back to the floor!!
At the same time the committees are dealing with bills from the opposite house, the House and Senate will be putting out their budgets. March 20th is the revenue forecast and it is expected that the House budget will come out early the next week… perhaps the 25th. The Senate budget will likely follow a few days (?) later. Both budgets will be heard, likely amended and then passed out of their respective fiscal committees. The House and Senate will then take up the budgets, and once they have passed, negotiations to resolve their differences will begin! April 28th is the last day of the regular session, and it is hoped that by then a budget will have been agreed upon by the House, Senate, and Governor!
The session is more than ½ way over…. A lot has happened but A LOT still needs to happen before April 28th! Hang in there!!
