AWSP Blog

The biennial budget, worked out in secrecy, will supposedly be released after this report is due. Dollars drive or kill policies, so there may be some surprises in the agreed-upon document. Meanwhile, here is a brief report on bills that are still in play and/or that have changed status since previous reports.

Both houses are engaged in moving bills back and forth in order to get agreement from both bodies on a specific piece of legislation. A few policy bills are being heard until the end when policy bills that are NTIB will be heard and acted upon. Below is a report on the status of various bills that are still in play and/or have changed status since previous reports.

Policy bills are being heard in their opposite houses and budget negotiations are going on behind closed doors. Bills that have been modified by the opposite house are sent back for action/reaction from the house of origin. After 5 PM on Sunday, the discussion is limited to specific topics: budget and revenue-related matters, matters of differences on bills between the two houses, and matters related to ongoing discussions. The goal is to close the session after adopting the state budget.

The good news is that K–12 got all the dollars they needed and more. The bad news is that April Fool’s Day ran long. Most of the policy and fiscal bills are moving to their respective Rules Committees where they may then move to floor action. Lurking in the background are the two proposed budgets with the fiscal leaders of both houses beginning to discuss compromise and agreement. Floor action, opposite house reaction, and debates are occurring to move bills out of the opposite house by their April 11th deadline. Budget negotiations are going on behind closed doors as adjournment will occur on April 25th.

Committees continued meeting primarily to move bills out of their respective committees while concurrently, the majority party in each house released their budget proposals as the week ended. The policy cut-off for bills was Friday, March 26th; the fiscal one will be the following Friday, April 2nd. Bills are stacking up for scheduling on floor calendars. Further activities will begin to focus on floor action, negotiations and compromises aiming toward an attempt to end on time on April 25th.