Legislative Report: Feb. 3, 2025

It's day 15. The deadline for new bills has passed in both the House and Senate. The current bill total for both the House and Senate comes in at 1,035, nearly a hundred more than last session. Of that total the Senate has introduced 396, or just five more than last session.

The committees have been busy hearing and voting on bills, they are especially busy working to get done not just in time for crossover, but because there is a rule that any bill with an appropriation of $50,000 or more must be voted out of its respective committee by February 10. That deadline allows the Appropriations Committee to figure out what we can afford to spend and how it gets in the budget. As of last evening's report, we were about $3.6 billion in the red. That's a large number, but it does include the Governor's requests and certainly a lot from the legislators. That number also includes all the different tax proposals which in some cases are similar but introduced by different legislators. We generally are a bit upside down going into crossover, but we will get everything sorted out and we will not stay in the red. Appropriations is one of the many important committees that we have.

I serve on two very different but vital committees. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I serve on the Industry and Business Committee. Thursday and Friday I serve on the Transportation Committee. On the Industry and Business Committee we generally hear about all issues related to the insurance industry, workers' compensation issues and banking issues. As of this writing, the Industry and Business Committee has heard bills related to insurance confidentiality, producer's licenses and a bill to increase the firefighter's death benefit. We have also listened to concerns from our beer wholesalers and have heard concerns with long-term care insurance. The Transportation Committee is looking at many issues, including but not limited to whether we need a black and white license plate and ways to provide more funding for our township roads and bridges. Some bills are easy to reach an agreement on, some not as much. But we continue to work until we come to an agreement that best benefits everyone. I will continue to work to pass good legislation that benefits our district.