Unicameral Update: The Real Work Begins!

Friday, March 14, marked the 44th day of the session. If we are lucky, that will have been the half-way point of the session. With 44 days to go (or 46), senators will now turn their focus to priority bills, 81 of which have been selected. The remaining 25 Speaker priority bills will be announced tomorrow, March 17. Trust me, there is something for everyone to love and hate among them. 

In no particular order, the following is just a sample of the issues we will learn all about in the coming weeks. Property valuations; firework permit fees; sales taxes on lobbying services (a horrible idea!); sales taxes on soda pop and “candy”; a reduction in inheritance taxes paid for by taxing other property transactions; winner-take-all for presidential elections; placing an excise tax on cryptocurrency mining (could someone please explain cryptocurrency to me?); school funding; prohibiting trans individuals from competing in sports, mandating training related to discrimination; mobile sports betting; minimum wage; requiring parents to provide proof of age to allow their kids to have a social media account; Hemp; Cannabis; banning fake meat; school funding; tobacco and nicotine taxes; creating secure drone purchasing; legislative term limits and pay; housing; and giving felons a chance at a clean slate. 

If you want to peruse the list of priorities for yourself, click here. I will send the list of Speaker priorities tomorrow. 

Considering the number of contentious issues included among priority bills, I will be surprised if we get to all of them. If even half of the priority bills meet a filibuster, we will run out of time. This is the time of year I start to feel bad for Speaker Arch. Creating an agenda to give every senator and committee a chance to have their bill debated will become a challenge. We have already seen a lot of vote trading just to get bills advanced from committee. I expect the trades to get more complicated as the days pass. We have six weeks until the budget hits the floor. I am already preparing myself for some late nights! 

A lot of you know, this is when time seems to stand still and then move at the speed of light.  Amendments and motions can change the substance of a bill within minutes, or it can take a day to debate one floor amendment. We might even hear some recipes (old filibuster reference). Joking aside, the next two months is when you are most likely to receive texts or emails from us asking for a quick turn around on potential changes to legislation you care about. We will do our best to give you plenty of warning before legislation is going to be debated but sometimes the agenda can change and we have to be ready to pivot. 

As always, if you have any questions regarding legislation or process, please let us know. Justin and I are always happy to chat. Texts and emails are usually the best this time of year since we never know what might pop up. 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow! Sláinte! 

Korby M. Gilbertson
Radcliffe Gilbertson & Brady