Hello everyone,
This past week was a short week with both the House and the Senate taking Monday off in observance of Presidents’ Day. We are into the flow of the session with committee work, floorwork, and a slowdown in the number of bills being introduced. This week there were 30 new bills introduced bringing the total number of bills introduced this session to 502. In a typical session we will see about 500 to 600 bills, so let’s hope we have seen most of the bills we will have to deal with this session.
On Tuesday, the Senate Local Government Committee unanimously passed HB 1016 that defines an Emergency Communications Specialist as a first responder. The CSPA supports HB 1136 because it recognizes the important role of our communications officers. On Thursday, the Senate passed HB 1016 on second reading and on Friday it passed third reading 31 to 0. Since it was not amended in the Senate, HB 1016 now goes to the Governor, and he is expected to sign it.
Last week, I mentioned that the JBC was scheduled to consider figure setting recommendations for the State Patrol’s budget for next year. However, the figure setting was rescheduled to this Friday (March 1st).
So far, there have been 502 bills introduced – 336 in the House and 166 in the Senate. Only 72 days until the General Assembly is required to adjourn sine die.
Bill Skewes
Lobbyist