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Senate committee reports dozens of bills; one juvenile bill passes 10-9
Summary
A Senate committee moved dozens of senate bills forward Thursday, mostly by unanimous or lopsided roll calls; a contentious juvenile-justice bill, Senate Bill 778, passed the committee by 10 to 9 after a 5-3 subcommittee split.
A Senate committee on the floor reported a large group of senate bills — many with House companions or conforming substitutes — forwarding most without substantive debate and sending several to the appropriations committee.
The committee approved a long list of bills by roll-call votes, frequently by voice motions that were followed by formal roll openings. Most measures were reported with substitutes where needed and several were referred to the Appropriations Committee when funding implications were identified.
Why it matters: The committee action clears these measures for further consideration by the Senate and, for some, for budgetary review. A close vote on juvenile-justice legislation highlighted a split among members on how the code should treat children under 11.
The committee moved many bills by voice or block votes and recorded the following outcomes (selected items from the hearing):
- Senate Bill 7 46 (patron: Senator McDougall): reported with substitute, 18–2. - Senate Bill 9 36 (patron: Senator Craig): reported with substitute, 13–7. - Senate Bill 9 39: reported, 20–0. - Senate Bill 9 57: reported, 20–0. - Senate Bill 9 63 (patron: Carol Foy): reported, 18–2. - Senate Bill 10 41: reported, 20–0. - Senate Bill 10 60: initially reported and later reconsidered; ultimately reported with substitute, 20–0 (committee removed referral to appropriations on reconsideration). - Senate Bill 11 94: reported with substitute (vote recorded in transcript as 15–4 then 15–5; final recorded floor tally shown as 15–5 in the transcript sequence). - Senate Bill 10 92: reported with substitute and referred to appropriations, 19–1. - Senate Bill 11 57: reported, 20–0. - Senate Bill 11 93: reported, 20–0. - Senate Bill 1,200: reported with substitute, 20–0. - Senate Bill 12 21: reported with substitute, 12–8. - Senate Bill 12 71: reported with substitute, 20–0. - Senate Bill 13 31: reported with substitute and referred to appropriations, 18–2. - Senate Bill 13 61: reported with substitute, 19–0. - Senate Bill 14 65: reported with substitute, 20–0. - Senate Bill 14 66: reported with substitute, 20–0.
Subcommittee reports and contested items:
- Criminal Subcommittee (Chair: Delegate Watts) presented a block of mostly uncontested criminal justice bills (including measures to allow audio recording of district court proceedings by parties and to expand ignition-interlock rules). That block was reported from the committee by a recorded vote of 19–0.
- Senate Bill 778 (juvenile-justice measure, patron cited in subcommittee): the bill would change how the code treats juveniles younger than 11 who commit acts that would be delinquent if committed by an 11-year-old or older. The subcommittee recommended reporting on a 5–3 vote; the full committee reported the bill by a narrow 10–9 vote. The measure would (as summarized in the subcommittee presentation) prohibit proceeding on such children as delinquents while authorizing child-in-need-of-services dispositions and making available funding to provide comparable services. The committee record shows the close tally but no extended floor debate in the provided excerpt.
- Other contested or noteworthy subcommittee items were reported and, where applicable, referred to appropriations (for example, bills expanding robbery definitions to include gas- or air-operated weapons and a bill adding synthetic digital content to certain defamation provisions).
What the committee did not do: The transcript records that one contested item (SB 11 58) was taken “by for the day” to allow stakeholders and sponsors to continue work on an amendment; no final action was recorded for that bill in the excerpts provided.
Next steps: Reported bills without appropriation referrals will proceed to the Senate floor calendar for further action. Bills referred to appropriations will be considered by that committee for budgetary impact before additional floor action.
Votes at a glance (selected from transcript): see Actions array for the motion texts, vote tallies, and formal outcomes captured from the committee record.
