On Monday, May 2nd State workers’ contracts were officially approved by the State Senate. The Senate bill was then sent to the House for its consideration. The House version of the bill has been referred back to the House Committee on Ways and Means for further consideration. Readers will recall that the House version of the bill includes provisions similar to the issues in Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association case. No such provisions are included in the bill that passed out of the Senate. As a result, that issue will be a major source of controversy once the bill passes out of the House and moves to the conference committee.
Above and beyond those negotiations, the Legislature continues to be occupied with a flurry of other activity. The Senate is busy debating the bonding bill, which was released on Monday. The bonding bill includes approval for the issuance of bonds to fund infrastructure improvements around the State. The House, meanwhile, continues to work on assembling its own proposal. The bonding bill is one of three major priorities for the Legislature, this session, along with supplemental budget and tax bills.
The end is clearly in sight. Through early mornings and late nights, each body continues to debate and vote on provisions that will be reconciled with those of their counterparts and sent to the Governor for final approval. One way or another, their deliberations will need to be complete by the final constitutional deadline of May 23rd.
