Appropriations Committee advances a package of bills, adds House Bill 7181 to agenda; votes left open until 3 p.m.

The Appropriations Committee met May 12 and moved a group of bills onto a single consent (described in the meeting as a “discontent”) calendar, approved the calendar by voice and roll-call votes as recorded, and added House Bill 7181 — “An act concerning enforcement of the state's cannabis, hemp, and tobacco laws” — to the agenda after a motion from Representative Nuccio.

The committee chair opened the meeting and asked for a motion to add House Bill 7181 to the agenda. Representative Nuccio moved to add the bill; Senator Summers seconded the motion. The chair announced the motion “so ordered.”

Why it matters: the committee used a single consent/discontent calendar to bundle many bills for expedited action; the process concentrates multiple approvals into one set of procedural votes and leaves individual members the option to remove items for separate consideration. Members repeatedly noted that most bills under consideration were “not in the budget,” a point Representative Nuccio put on the record.

The committee moved numerous substitute bills to the consent calendar and then called roll for individual items. Items explicitly placed on the consent/discontent calendar included (by agenda number and sponsor listing in committee materials) substitute bills identified as: substitute for Senate Bill No. 1; substitute for Senate Bill No. 2; substitute for Senate Bill No. 10; substitute for Senate…