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Committee carries several measures to next week after chair condemns racist public comments; schedules work sessions
Summary
The Senate Committee on Labor and Business carried multiple items to its next meeting after Chair Gerry Taylor condemned racist comments received about two bills. The committee carried over six work-session items and several public-hearing bills to the following Tuesday and noted continued stakeholder work on short-term disability and paid-leave
The Senate Committee on Labor and Business opened on March 27 and moved several agenda items to future meetings after the chair said some public submissions included racist language the committee would not tolerate.
Chair Gerry Taylor told colleagues that six items listed on the committee’s work-session calendar would be carried over until the next Tuesday because those measures were not yet ready due to outstanding paperwork and stakeholder work. The chair read the list of bills to be carried over: Senate bills 606, 705, 759, 906, 9608 and 1148 (as read into the record), and said they would be rescheduled for the committee’s next meeting. The chair also said Senate bills 1119 and 1140 — both introduced by the chair — would be carried over after the committee received what the chair described as “very, very direct racist comments” on OLIS and in communications to her office; she said the comments were unacceptable and that she would not tolerate racist testimony in the committee.
The committee also noted several items would return to future work sessions: SB 1005 was scheduled for a work session on April 1; SB 463 was advanced to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation; SB 1032 (DFE aerosol dusters) will return after sponsors and stakeholders work on amendments; and SB 1148 (short-term disability and paid-leave interactions) will require additional staff work and stakeholder conversations and was carried over. Chair Taylor thanked staff and outside parties working on the short-term-disability issue and said the committee would continue to coordinate with DCBS and other stakeholders.
No formal votes were taken on the carried-over bills on March 27 beyond the motions related to SB 463. The chair adjourned the committee after the scheduled hearings and noted the committee’s next meeting would include multiple work sessions.
— Reporting from the Senate Committee on Labor and Business meeting on March 27, 2025.
