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Senate gives first readings to four bills including minimum-wage increase and repeal of Affordable Heat Act
Summary
The Senate read four bills for the first time and referred each to the appropriate committee: a proposal to raise the state minimum wage, a repeal of the Affordable Heat Act, an age-appropriate design code, and a House bill expanding the scope of hate-motivated crimes.
The Senate gave first readings to four bills during its session and referred each to committee for further consideration.
The bills read aloud were S 67, “An act relating to increasing the state minimum wage based on the livable wage,” introduced by Senator Clarkson and others; S 68, “An act relating to repealing the Affordable Heat Act,” introduced by Senator Williams; S 69, “An act relating to an age appropriate design code,” introduced by Senator Harrison and others; and House bill H 118, “An act relating to expanding the scope of hate motivated crimes,” which passed the House on Feb. 7, 2025 and was placed with the Senate’s Judiciary Committee for review.
The first readings begin the committee review process: S 67 was referred to the Committee on Economic Development, S 68 to the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy, S 69 to the Committee on Institutions, and H 118 to the Committee on Judiciary. No floor debate or recorded roll-call votes on the measures were recorded during the read-ins.
Senator Clarkson introduced S 67 as a livable-wage-based minimum-wage proposal. Senator Williams presented S 68 as a repeal of the Affordable Heat Act, and Senator Harrison introduced S 69 as an age-appropriate design code. The House-passed H 118 was read into the Senate and assigned to Judiciary as part of the regular bill-referral process.
Committee referral is the next formal step for each bill; committees may hold hearings, solicit testimony, amend language, and report bills back to the full Senate. The session also included routine procedural announcements and scheduling by several committee chairs before adjournment.
