Legislative Updates

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night… While you may recognize this as the Postal Service creed, it can certainly apply to the legislature!  In spite of the snow and icy conditions, the legislature was back in action on Monday and has...

Week 3 ended with an attempt by the Senate Democrats to take control of the Senate in order to bring the school levy ‘cliff’ bill to the floor.   The attempt failed, and on February 1st, the Senate Republican education funding bill was passed by...

Welcome to Week 3!  Bills, bills, bills!!!  Many bills were dropped this week, including a number in the children and families realm.  Of particular note are HB 1661/SB 5498, the companion bills that bring together the Department of Early Learning...

The week was filled with hearings on bills and work sessions on a variety of topics, including K-12 funding, Economic Services, the Office of Homeless Youth, Home Visiting, the Department of Early Learning, the Blue Ribbon Commission report, and...

Welcome to the 2017 Legislative Session! It’s hard to believe the interim is over and the legislature is back in action.  The week was busy with elected officials being sworn in, the Governor’s address to the legislature, the inaugural ball, bill...

The House and Senate agreed on a budget early in the week and passed it on Tuesday, March 29th!  They also passed a number of bills ‘necessary to implement the budget’ and overrode the bills the Governor vetoed at the conclusion of the regular...

As you know, the legislature adjourned last Thursday, March 10th.  The Governor then proceeded to veto 27 bills and call them back into a special session!  No floor action has taken place since the special session began; however, the Senate did...

As of today, bills must be out of the opposite house or they will die – unless, of course, the substance of the bill gets included in another bill, which could happen if a bill is in dispute, changes are being made, and the bill will have to be...

If it’s Friday, there must be a cut-off!  They come up very quickly during a short session, and this week was no different.  Today is the cut-off for policy bills to be out of the opposite committee.  If they aren’t out by today, they will die....

The session is moving quickly – with more cut-offs passed and more to come (see below). A couple of good news items – the House Children’s Mental Health bill passed the House and is scheduled to be heard on Monday, February 22nd in the Senate Human...