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Senate Rules chair proposes 25-bill limit for upcoming 60-day session; members discuss deadlines
Summary
Committee members discussed imposing a 25-bill limit for the next 60-day legislative session, excluding administration and established commission bills, and proposed a June 1 deadline for members to file topics for consideration.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Rules said she is "thinking about 25" as a cap on bills for the next 60-day general assembly session and suggested that commission bills not count against that limit, setting off a brief discussion among senators about deadlines and process.
The chair said, "I'm thinking about 25 without commission bills counting against the 25. This is our longer session and there's gonna be a lot of pent up interest in passing bills." Committee members responded with a range of possibilities for the numeric cap and raised procedural questions about how prefiled bills would be counted.
Senator McPike urged structural planning and coordination with staff, saying he wanted to work with legislative services to "figure out dates of a cadence that works" and to encourage members to file bills earlier so staff can distribute work across the eight-month preparation period. Senator Deeds recommended setting an early internal deadline, with a proposed target of June 1 to allow staff and clerks time to prepare for processing and desktop/system impacts.
Members discussed whether the suggested limit would include administration bills; the chair clarified her proposal: "No. No administration bills, but it will not include commission bills that we've really studied and thought about." The committee agreed to have a smaller group work with legislative services and staff to propose a concrete deadline and process for bill limits ahead of the next session.
Why it matters: A formal limit would affect how senators prioritize legislation and could influence which measures advance during the session. The committee's choices about counting categories of bills (administration, commission, prefiled) determine how the cap would operate in practice.
No formal motion was recorded to adopt a numerical limit during the meeting; members instructed staff and a smaller committee to develop a proposal, coordinate with the Division of Legislative Services and report back.
Ending: The committee agreed to continue work on a recommended timetable and to involve legislative staff to craft a proposal for consideration before the next session.
