At the Capitol This Week

There was a lot of floor activity in both chambers this week. The Senate had all of it's members present this week and they were able to pass a number of bills over to the House. One of those passed was their priority on income tax credit. The education committee held hearings on the three Governor appointments to the Board of Regents. These have been controversial and their confirmation by the full Senate is questionable. All appointments, by law must be confirmed or rejected by April 15.
The House also passed a number of bills including three of the seven major appropriation bills. These have not been agreed to by the Senate, so there will be negotiating between the leaders for resolution, or they could end up in a conference committee. The education appropriations bill did include the House version of allowable growth for K-12 in it.
The Senate is still working on it's version of the education reform bill and the House Ways & Means committee passed out their version of the commercial/industrial property tax reform bill. This was a compilation of their original bill and the Governor's bill. It appears that a lot of these issues are moving and that the stage is starting to get set for the compromises and resolution to the differences being made. I think this will begin in earnest right after Easter.

Cal Hultman