Weekly Legislative Summary

Legislative Days 28-31
March 8, 2021 to March 11, 2021
  
Monday, Day 28 of the legislative session, was Crossover day.  What does crossover day mean?  Crossover day is the last day for legislation to pass the chamber in which it was introduced and transfer to the other chamber for consideration.  Senate bills must pass the Senate, and House bills must pass the House. Any bill that does not receive a vote in its initial chamber by Day 28 cannot move on in the legislative process until the next legislative session.  However, CBA will continue to monitor bills throughout the remainder of the session to make sure no controversial topics are introduced or added that would adversely impact community banks. As a reminder, this is the first session of a 2-year legislative cycle and bills that did not crossover or that do not make it to the floor for a vote this session are carried over into the 2022 Legislative Session.
 
Committee meetings are now hosting the opposite chambers legislators to present their bills for the next process towards passage. The Rules committee Chairmen are starting to add each other bills to the floor for debate and voting.  Apparently, there had been some delay on the House side in scheduling Senate bills for a vote which caused some controversy in both Rules committees on Wednesday and Thursday morning. Following this apparent delay, the Senate made it clear that they would prevent any House Bills from being put on the Senate calendar until the House's hold up was resolved. Only one Senate Bill was put on the House's calendar this week, which caused the Senate Rules committee to declare that they will only match the House's pace by scheduling one House bill for Monday. At least the bill set for Monday will be the DBF Housekeeping Bill (H.B. 111), which gives us something to look forward to next week.  Gamesmanship and the power struggle between the House and Senate is alive and well again this session.  If nothing else, it provides some entertaining discussions during committee meetings.
 
In other news, through all the commotion down at the Capitol this week, Thursday was a day to celebrate Speaker Ralston's birthday, which included song and dance on the House floor from our legislators before the weekend.

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