Legislative Day 40 is a roller coaster, full of ups, downs, and zero gravity turns (also known as conference committee reports). One goes from celebrating a bill achieving final passage to lamenting a measure being gutted...more
Show us the money! In an early morning meeting on Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee and its subcommittees unveiled the House version of the FY 2025 Budget. While there are many goodies in the $36.1 billion spending...more
Friday marked Legislative Day 5. The House and Senate convened at 9:00 a.m. and adjourned by 10:00 a.m. That’s about it. We call it “burning a day.”...more
Closing out Week 17 of the 2023 Legislative Session - All eyes are on the calendar as adjournment looms. The hopeful have pegged the date at May 12, though with large disparities in the budget between the Senate and...more
Since 2020, in the wake of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) established in the EU, there has been a growing wave of U.S. states enacting omnibus laws governing the privacy of personal information (i.e.,...more
Closing out Week 5 of the 2023 Legislative Session - The House passed the FY’23 Budget Adjustment Act on a vote of 107-33. Republicans objected to allocating an additional $50 million to the Vermont Housing and...more
Closing out Week 3 of the 2023 Legislative Session - The theme of Week 3 was “money.” The Emergency Board shared the state’s Revenue Forecast Update with legislators. Due to the influx of unpreceded federal economic...more
The General Assembly’s Appropriations Committees resumed today on their work around the Governor’s recommendations for FY 2021 Amended and FY 2022 budgets. Today’s focal points were the state’s health and human services’...more
The second week of the legislative session was a short week as the legislature observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, January 20. Nonetheless, the legislature made up for lost time by doubling down on subcommittee...more
The 2020 session of the 88th General Assembly (GA) began Monday, January 13th. Legislative Branch Developments - Makeup of the 88th General Assembly - Republicans maintain their majority in both chambers, though...more
As you know, the 2020 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature commenced on January 8. As of this writing, the House has introduced 903 bills, while the Senate has introduced 467. We will be reporting on and tracking...more
At the close of the thirteenth week, there are only three scheduled weeks left in the legislative session. Functionally—because Easter weekend is next weekend - that amounts to fourteen work days until the 110th day, the...more
The second week of the legislative session started out relatively slow due to the observance of Martin Luther King Day on Monday and cancellations of committee work for weather-related reasons on Tuesday. Floor action was...more
This week, legislators again focused on floor work with action on many bills and the Senate started to work through its confirmation calendar. Department of Human Services - The Senate delayed the confirmation vote on...more
...Today was yet another day of teachers showing up in large numbers voicing their opposition and concern about the PEIA and teachers pay proposals. Worth noting, last Sunday representatives of the county affiliates of the...more
It was a shortened legislative week with legislators staying in their districts to participate and attend their local caucuses on Monday. As a result, while bills were introduced on Monday, there were no subcommittee meetings...more
2017 Session - After 23 weeks of session, lawmakers adjourned the 2017 long session of the North Carolina General Assembly on June 30th. The Adjournment Resolution passed by both bodies reconvenes the legislature on...more
This Week - Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge, a native of Youngsville, NC, was one of three soldiers killed in Afghanistan on June 10th, 2017. We are eternally grateful for his service to this country and for his sacrifice. Our...more
Work at the Legislature slowed this week following the whirlwind of last week's crossover deadline. Few committees met and no action was taken on any substantive bills....more
Under the Dome: Inside the Maine State House provides a high-level overview of recent activity at the Maine State House. Compressed Committee Activity - Over the next four to six weeks, the Maine legislature’s...more
Senate Money Panel Passes Budget Bill - On a vote of 7-0, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a $5.8 billion budget on Friday that closes a $72 million projected gap between revenues and expenditures in the 2018...more
With policy committee deadlines out of the way, legislators turned their attention to omnibus finance and tax bills. Finance and tax committees in both the House and Senate spent the week compiling bills, taking public...more
This Week - Gov. Cooper (D) unveiled his $23.5 Billion budget proposal on Wednesday, a roughly $1 Billion or 5.1% increase over the 2016-17 budget. State Budget Director Charlie Perusse gave the Governor’s Recommended...more
This Week - Following a lawsuit by Gov. Roy Cooper (D), a law passed in one of last year’s December special sessions creating the Bipartisan State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement (BSBEEE) was put on hold. The...more
Committees Transition to Processing Bills - Legislative committees completed the pivot from background briefings to processing bills this week, working on topics ranging from how best to provide paid parental leave and...more