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Debates and voting also known as ‘Floor’ action have continued throughout the week. The pattern seems to be that for every three or four bills a chamber passes with bipartisan support, they then debate for hours on a controversial bill which ends with a partisan vote (28/21 or 57/41).

The first fiscal committee deadline passed on Monday, and the list of active bills got even smaller as executive action by both the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee was not taken on some bills. The Legislature spent the rest of this week (and will spend all of next week) on floor action trying to get bills passed out of each house in order to meet the next deadline of March 9th. This is a much slower process in a remote session, so fewer bills will survive this session. We are watching to see which bills are still moving and will keep advocating to get bills of importance to the floor for votes.

Both Houses are focusing on ‘floor’ action. They have primarily voted to pass bills that have the support of both parties. Proposals that do not have such consent continue to be approved along party lines. And some bills such as those dealing with police and/or guns generate lively debate. Bills have to be out of their houses of origin by the end of the day March 9th. So, these floor debates will get even more spirited as the controversial bills come before the bodies.

The focus was definitely on fiscal committees this week as legislators work to meet the next significant cut-off date of this legislative session on Monday, February 22. By the end of that day, bills need to be passed out of the House fiscal committees and Senate Ways & Means and Transportation committees in each house of origin. Some of these committees will meet on Saturday to continue this work.

The deadline for policy bills has come and gone, and the deadline for fiscal bills is imminent. Both Houses will now focus on ‘floor’ action, or in this case ‘zoom’ action. Simply stated, at this point, bills will have either been moved out of the policy and fiscal by end of day, Feb. 22nd, moved out of the respective Rules Committee, placed on the floor calendar awaiting action, passed by the bodies, and sent to the opposite house by the March 9th or they are ‘dead’. The cycle then repeats in the opposite chamber.