Close of business on Tuesday, April 18, finished what is termed “the first half” of the 2017 legislative session. The date was the deadline for policy committees to hold work sessions on bills in their first chamber. That is, any House Bill not having received a work session in a House committee is considered dead.

No surprise, there are exceptions. The deadline does not apply to the Rules, Revenue, or Joint Committees. The exceptions presented a tactic used by AOC policy staff to save some bills currently under  discussion for amendments.

A noticeable effect of the first chamber deadline is Senate committees will begin work on House bills and House committee agendas will contain predominantly Senate bills.

Contributed by: Gil Riddell | AOC Policy Director