RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator
This last, Week 11, for most committees to meet in the Legislature was kind of different from past years, in that there didn’t seem to be any big “crunch” to get everything done.
We did work a fair number of bills — particularly in Ag and Fed and State, but used our full hour of meeting time only once — and that without even approving the bill which consumed most of it (SB 446, seeking to limit foreign property ownership) because it had simply become too cumbersome.
The big news, I suppose, was that both houses held hearings on Medicaid expansion for the first time in four years, yet without moving it out of committee. The House provided some hope that tax relief might have another shot; however, with a two-tier instead of single rate like that adopted by the Senate, there is still a lot of “negotiating” to do to get a finished product that is “veto proof.” We’ll know more after their formal Floor consideration next week, but right now I’m optimistic we can come up with something taxpayers have been waiting on far too long.
Three totally unrelated measures that have generated a lot of constituent interest and do have a good chance of making it through are S Sub HB 2124, dealing with operational enhancement for “little guy” microbreweries; HB 2783, prohibiting government agencies from restricting the sale of motor vehicles based on energy source; and SB 527/HB 2813, making it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion.
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