The 2016 legislative session continues to fly by, at break neck speed. The third and final deadline, on April 21st, will mark the end of bill introductions and committee hearings. Legislators are working through early mornings and late nights, in an effort to give hearings to each bill, before that deadline.
Contract approval for state workers has been making its way through the process, amidst the swirl of other initiatives. We expect the crucial deliberation for the contract approval to be in early and mid May as part of the final negotiations between the Senate, House and Governor.
Notably, last week brought the release of budgetary targets for both the House and Senate. Those targets set each body’s requirements for spending. Key Committees have begun culling together the various individual provisions that will be combined into omnibus bills that will be sent to the floor of each body for approval.
Beginning the week of April 25th the focus will shift to the bonding bill, the supplemental budget bill and the tax bill. Once floor action is complete the focus will then move to negotiations between the Governor and legislative leaders. Those negotiations are likely to be tense but they must culminate in time for the final compromise to be sent back to each body for a final vote. All of this must be concluded by the Constitutional deadline adjournment of May 23rd. With that, another legislative session will be done and campaign season will kick into high gear.
