Conference committee agrees to Senate language for Senate Bill 139; staff to draft report

A Senate conference committee agreed to accept the Senate version of Senate Bill 139, removing a House date-change amendment and directing staff to draft a conference committee report (CCR), members said during a short meeting.

The reviser told the committee that Senate Bill 139 was heard in the Senate on Feb. 19 and passed out of the Senate the same day. The reviser said the House considered the bill on March 5, when a date-change amendment was added, and that the bill passed the House committee of the whole on March 17 on a unanimous vote. "So the only change there was a change to the effective date," the reviser said.

Committee members discussed a minor difference between the chambers related to the bill's effective date and the question of publication timing in the register and statute books. The reviser said removing the House amendment would affect publication timing and could reduce publication costs; committee members indicated agreement to accept the Senate language. A House committee member said, "we will just accept the ... Senate offer of removing the amendment and going with the Senate version."

Members asked staff to prepare the CCR and run it once the committee's agreement was finalized. The committee also confirmed that no further conference would be necessary for one other item referenced in the meeting (SP 64) because the House planned to concur.

No formal roll-call vote or recorded tally was reported in the transcript excerpt provided; the committee's agreement was presented as a mutual decision and staff action was identified as the next step.