Conference Committee on H 4504 meets to set schedule, asks clerk to post public notice

The Conference Committee on H 4504 held an initial organizational session to align schedules for future meetings and to ask the clerk's office to post public notice of the sessions, participants said.

Committee members said the meeting was intended to "touch base" and set a path forward for the conference committee on H 4504. "This is, for people watching, the first first meeting and conference committee on H 4 50 4. We're getting together for the first time just to touch base, figure out the path path forward," Speaker 2, a committee member, said.

The request for a posted public notice came after members observed the committee schedule was not visible on the House committee conference page. "I just wanna make sure that there's a notice out there," Speaker 2 said when the lack of a posting was raised. A staff member asked whether the committee wanted to pause until the notice was posted.

Members discussed possible meeting blocks, including recurring morning and afternoon sessions. Speaker 1, a committee member, suggested "9 to 11," and participants floated a daily 9 a.m. start with sessions that could run to 2 p.m. for some days. The group agreed to try morning and afternoon meeting windows — commonly described during the discussion as a 9 a.m. and a 2 p.m. option — with flexibility to add or extend sessions as needed.

The committee also discussed timing for producing a committee conference report and whether a report could be finalized in time for final legislative deadlines; one participant said a report could be signed on Friday if deadlines and agreement were met. No motion or formal vote was taken during the session; members described scheduling options and asked staff to post public notice so the public could find upcoming meetings.

The session was brief and organizational: members set tentative meeting times and asked staff to ensure the committee conference page or front page of the website included notice of the meetings. "It's up to you all, but I just wanna make sure people — well, we can pause for that," Speaker 1 said when the posting was discussed.

Next steps identified in the meeting were for staff to publish the meeting notice online and for members to reconvene according to the tentative schedule to work through a side-by-side comparison of the bill text and prepare the committee conference report.