Dear Friends,
This last week members were chosen for each of the legislative conference committees, and I am pleased to say that I was named to the Environment Omnibus bill conference committee, along with four of my fellow House Environment Committee members.
Much of the next few weeks will be spent in conference committees debating the omnibus bills that have been passed through the House and Senate. In these committees, legislators from both legislative bodies will debate the differences between the House and Senate versions of omnibus bills, and will agree on final versions.
I think it’s also important to point out that the final bill deadlines for committees were set significantly earlier this legislative session than they have been in the past. This means that conference committees will have more time to meet, and that there is more time to negotiate with the Governor, since no bill will become law without his signature. Republican leadership in the House and Senate both agreed to this earlier deadline in an effort to avoid any last-minute surprises in negotiating with the Governor, and so that session will end in a more orderly fashion than it did last year.
Here is an article by the MN House Public Information Office that explains the conference committee process: http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/sessiondaily/SDView.aspx?StoryID=12783
I am excited to get to work on the Environment bill; it’s an honor to have been named as a conferee. These issues really matter to our district, and I look forward continuing work on them for our community.
-Josh