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Senate refuses House animal‑cruelty amendments in SB302 conference hearing
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Summary
At a Committee of Conference on Senate Bill 302, senators said they would not accept House language from HB616 adding animal‑cruelty provisions to SB302; House representatives said they would refile the changes next year if removed and would not concur if excluded.
At a Committee of Conference hearing on Senate Bill 302, senators said they would not accept House amendments that would add animal‑cruelty provisions to the bill, while House members said they would reintroduce the changes next year and would not concur if the language was removed.
SB302 is the vehicle the legislature opened to consider background checks for owners of solid waste management facilities; the House attached language from House Bill 616 that would add animal‑cruelty provisions and a related solid waste site evaluation committee provision (previously included in House Bill 2). The disagreement over the House language prevented agreement during the conference session.
Senator said the Senate lacked support for the animal‑cruelty language and “we're not gonna accept language dealing with this topic in SB302.” Representative Comteuil described revisions the House made to address concerns: she said the House removed a section that barred collections of donations for confiscated animals and replaced it with language that would keep an owner's name and address from being publicized until a case is adjudicated and would limit fundraising uses. Representative Comteuil said, “The name and address of the owner shall not be publicized until the case is adjudicated.” She also read the revised fundraising language aloud: “Any donations raised using the stories or likeness of the animals in protective custody shall be used only to offset the cost of care of such animals.”
A House representative told the conference that if the animal‑cruelty language is not included in SB302, the House “would not concur” with the bill. The presiding senator said the Senate would remove the House language to proceed and closed the hearing without agreement on the amendment.
No formal motion or vote to adopt the House changes into SB302 was recorded during the session. The House representatives signaled they plan to refile the animal‑cruelty provisions next year as a stand‑alone bill if the Senate will not accept them in SB302. The hearing concluded with the panel closing the conference session on SB302.
The immediate outcome is that SB302 will move forward without the House's animal‑cruelty language pending future action; the House has indicated it will pursue the provisions in a separate bill next year.
