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Now, as I’ve talked in the past, we’re into the second half of the session which
mean s that the Senate bills have been sent over to the House, the House bills are now
in the Senate and I’d like to use my Senate Bill 273 as an example of what happens when
that occurs and the bills are being worked on in the opposite houses. Senate Bill 273
is the bill that deals with the public safety of outdoor stages and yes it did grow out
of the tragedy that occurred last August at the state fair. I was able to get the bill
off the floor of the Senate successfully; I named two House sponsors; Representative
Bob Cherry and Representative Ed Delaney. One is a democrat; one is a republican, to
serve as the House sponsors of the bill. The bill was sent in the House to a committee,
a standing committee on public safety which is chaired by Representative Bruce Borders.
Now I’ve had the opportunity to speak with all of those representatives about my bill,
what it means, their thoughts and ideas on how perhaps the bill could be made even better.
They have some suggestions in that regards. Yesterday, then I had a meeting which included
representatives from the House, included my Senate co-authors on the bill; Senators Merritt
and Wyss, and also representatives from the State Fire Marshall’s office who ultimately
will be carrying out the provisions in the bill if it becomes law.
The bill is scheduled to be heard in the House Committee next Tuesday, and hopefully it will
be received favorably by the House Committee so it can be recommended to go to the entire
House of Representatives for consideration by their body.
If the bill is passed out successfully by the full house, the changes might have to
be discussed and resolved in a conference committee. But at least right now, we’re
at the point where that bill, Senate Bill 273 and all the others Senate bills that are
in the House are being considered by the House, will have to get through a House committee
and pass successfully upon the floor of the House. Likewise, all of the House Bills that
have come to the Senate go through the exact same process over here. So the point I’d
like to make and emphasize is that it calls for cooperation and many times, more than
people realize, a bi-partisan support for a bill and that’s what I’m hoping will
happen on my bill, Senate Bill 273, up to this point it has happened and I feel very
confident that that will continue.