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House Education Committee says backlog requires extra bill sessions; Wednesday afternoons to be used for bill work
Summary
House Education Committee Chair said 55 bills were dropped on the committee overnight, adding to a 67-bill workload. Committee members agreed to use Wednesday afternoons and extend work hours to handle fiscal notes and move bills to appropriations.
The House Education Committee was called to order with Chairman Heinert saying the panel faces an unusually large workload after “55 bills dropped on this committee,” bringing the committee’s total to 67 bills and 12 hearings.
That volume requires extra meeting time: Chairman Heinert said the committee will hold Wednesday afternoon sessions and may stay late to move bills and clear pending fiscal notes. “If you narrow that down, we have to do, like, 7 a day for the next 4 weeks,” he said.
Committee members discussed logistics rather than policy during the opening minutes. Chairman Heinert told members that caucus time would be skipped in coming weeks to make room for bill work and repeated the deadline for fiscal notes that affects scheduling. Representative Jonas and other members confirmed they would attempt to process as many bills as possible during dedicated bill time, with additional sessions as needed.
Committee staff and members agreed to return Wednesday afternoon for bill time and to remain after hearings when necessary to avoid missing fiscal deadlines. The committee adjourned for the day after agreeing on the schedule.
The committee’s decision to repurpose committee time aims to ensure bills with fiscal effects reach the Appropriations Committee on schedule.
Looking ahead, Chairman Heinert said members should expect longer weekly sessions until the backlog is resolved.
