Committee will vote Tuesday and aim to report H78 to floor Wednesday; chair says leadership is prepared to suspend rules

The Senate Government Operations Committee discussed scheduling a committee vote on H78 and signaled intent to report the bill to the full Senate by Wednesday, with the committee chair saying the Senate pro tem was "perfectly comfortable suspending rules" to allow third-reading consideration the same day.

Committee members said H78 already passed the House and that advancing it rapidly would give municipalities notice about election options for local officers. The chair said he had spoken with the Senate pro tem and planned to report the bill so it could be considered quickly by the chamber.

Committee members also noted witnesses expected for the H78 item, including Samantha Sheehan, John Heehan, Lauren Hibbert and Josh Heehanford, and discussed making copies of the bill available to members. Several members asked for time to review printed copies; staff indicated the bill was likely available online as well.

No formal committee vote on H78 was recorded in the transcript during this meeting; committee discussion focused on scheduling and logistics. The chair said the committee would take a vote on Tuesday and "immediately bring it up so that it's on notice for Wednesday," and that leadership was comfortable suspending rules and "messaging it to the governor forthwith." Those steps were described as procedural planning rather than formal committee action in the transcript.

Next steps recorded in the discussion: committee to take a vote at the next committee meeting on Tuesday; chair to report the bill to the full Senate on Wednesday; witnesses to be available for the committee hearing. The committee did not record a final committee recommendation or a roll-call vote on H78 in the provided transcript.