Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
04/17/2007 09:00 AM Senate STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HJR11 | |
| HB171 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| += | HB 171 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | SB 95 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HJR 11 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 171-ACCOMMODATE 90-DAY SESSION
9:42:00 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of HB 171. [Before the
committee was CSHB 171 (STA) am.]
SENATOR FRENCH moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 25-
LS0653\KA.6. He said it does several things, but mainly it
starts the legislature on one day instead of having staggered
starts. Folks will know that the legislature starts on the
fourth Monday in January, he said. It alleviates concerns about
squeezing the holidays and about the revenue forecasts. The
legislature has always begun in January. Let's just get down
here and get to work, he said. The amendment also says pre-filed
bills will be released on January 10th and must be to the
Legislative Affairs Agency before that.
9:44:50 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said Amendment 1 also moves the supplemental
budget up by 15 days, and budget amendments are moved to day 30
of the legislature. "You're in a time crunch no matter when you
do the budget." This balances the governor's time to prepare the
budget and the time for the legislature to consider it.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said Amendment 1 is on the table and she has
objected for discussions. She said she would like leave of the
committee to discuss KA.4, which provides a different start
date. This committee prefers to start the same time every year,
she surmised. The question is whether it will be the fourth
Monday in January or the second Monday in February. She said no
one is going to die over either choice.
9:47:38 AM
SENATOR STEVENS asked what day the sessions would end.
SENATOR FRENCH noted a calendar that was handed out to the
committee and his amendment has the session ending on April 27.
SENATOR STEVENS said the length is 90 days, not 91.
SENATOR FRENCH said the courts have an obscure way of counting
that leads to a 91-day session.
9:49:03 AM
TAMARA COOK, Director, Legislative Legal Affairs, said the extra
day is added because the constitution is written as 120 days
from the date the legislature convenes. The initiative is 90
consecutive calendar days, so it will not be 91 days.
The committee took an at-ease 9:50:38 AM from 9:51:18 AM.
SENATOR STEVENS said he prefers the later date.
SENATOR GREEN said she is leaning that way too because of the
Governor's budget.
CHAIR MCGUIRE said her amendment of KA.4 doesn't reference dates
of the budget.
9:53:01 AM
SENATOR GREEN asked the timeframe for prefiling.
CHAIR MCGUIRE asked Ms. Cook to speak to the amendment.
MS. COOK said in Amendment KA.4 the first part is the start time
for the session and the little change on Page 3 is the change in
the prefile date. "It simply rolls the time that a pre-file can
be requested forward by a month." It doesn't make any changes to
the rest of the bill.
9:54:28 AM
SENATOR FRENCH said a letter from Mr. Boucher notes that the
supplemental appropriations and the budget amendments are keyed
to the legislative calendar. The governor's supplemental
appropriations are due on day 30, and the budget amendments are
due on day 45. "So it just strikes me that if we're going to
deal with the fact that we've got a 90-day session, we need to
advance those in one of these vehicles."
CHAIR MCGUIRE said two committee members are absent so she will
ask Senator French to table the amendment, but first she asked
Mr. Boucher if KA.4 should recognize the budget dates.
JOHN BOUCHER, Senior Economist, Office of Management and Budget,
said it would be advantageous to the legislature to revisit
Section 12. If the session started the second Monday in
February, his office could provide the supplementals by mid-
February. If it started the second Monday, "we could probably do
that by the fifth legislative day, which would give you longer
to contemplate it." The amended budget could be provided by the
fifteenth day. It would just be a two-week difference, as
opposed to Senator French's proposal, he said. Those are the
target dates that his office is trying to hit.
9:57:20 AM
CHAIR MCGUIRE said she favors the February date because there
will be a higher probability of success because the budget is so
integral and dependent on one commodity, "that my fear is that
if we start earlier, that we will end up extending our session."
SENATOR FRENCH withdrew Amendment 1.
SENATOR GREEN said she was given a note that said the
legislative council report is not necessary, so that should be
checked.
HB 171 was held over.
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