This week at the General Assembly, budget conversations continued while both the House and Senate considered noteworthy bills.
Budget Process (S257)
Thursday afternoon House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) expressed hopes of reaching a budget compromise today. House Rules specify that the budget bill must be available to members for at least two days before any votes are taken. The chamber plans to hold a "skeletal," or non-vote session, today or tomorrow to read in the budget compromise so that votes may begin early next week.
Term Limits (H182)
A bill that seeks to limit House and Senate leadership to four consecutive, two-year terms passed through the House Judiciary I Committee this week. The legislation would put a constitutional amendment on the November 2018 ballot allowing voters to decide if leaderships' terms should be limited to eight consecutive years. The bill was re-referred to the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House.
Regulatory Reform (H16 & H374)
The House passed its version of the 2017 Regulatory Reform bill Thursday afternoon. The proposal addresses an array of regulations, including removing the requirements that businesses that sell security alarm systems must register their salespeople with the state's Alarm Systems Board and that a business providing insurance must have a certain number of employees. The Senate also considered a version of regulatory reform this week. The Business Freedom Act passed Senate Commerce on Thursday. These proposals are the second round of regulatory reform bills of the session.
For more information, contact the Brooks Pierce Government Affairs Team, linked below.
