House Ways and Means committee sends codification bill H.B. 3,843 forward with 22-0 favorable report

The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday voted 22-0 to send House Bill 3,843, a codification bill that would move longstanding budget provisos into permanent law, to the full House after adopting a subcommittee amendment.

Representative Moss, who explained the measure to the panel, said, "House Bill 3,843, the codification veil. It's the same bill that passed the house last year. It codifies provisos that have been in the budget for at least 16 years. The intent is to transition longstanding provisos into permanent law as none of these are controversial." Moss also described the subcommittee change: "The subcommittee's amendment merely strikes 40 four-six-one hundred and 20 2, from DHS, which the agency said they no longer needed that proviso."

The committee first adopted the subcommittee amendment by voice vote and then took a roll call on the amended bill. A committee statement recorded that "by a vote of 22 to nothing, [the] ways and means committee sends a favorable report on House Bill 3,843." The committee hearing record lists the item as amended and reported favorably to the next House stage.

Moss noted the bill previously passed the House unanimously in the prior session but "never received a hearing in the Senate," and said the committee was again pursuing codification this year.

No additional debate on the substance of the provisos was recorded in the committee's discussion during the bill presentation; members asked no questions before the committee acted.

The committee packet and meeting record indicate the measure will proceed to the next steps in the House process following the committee's favorable report.