Senate adjourns until 2 p.m.; conferees to resume negotiations at 9 a.m.

The Senate adjourned this evening until 2 p.m. tomorrow after the senator from Chittenden moved to pause floor business while conferees continue negotiations toward a finalized agreement.

"We don't have language, and we don't yet have a finished deal, although things are close," the senator from Chittenden said, asking that conferees meet at 9:00 a.m. and that senators return at 2 p.m. "So it seems to me best practice to let everybody get a good night's sleep."

The senator said conferees should "begin their deliberations again with a goal of getting us a deal in finished language by later in the afternoon." The senator also noted that some House members would be delayed by a funeral but said they were expected to return afterward.

The presiding officer put the motion to a voice vote. After calling for the question and asking, "Are you ready for the question?" the presiding officer recorded the response, "Aye," and declared, "Ayes have it, and we'll stand in adjournment until 2PM tomorrow." The motion was moved by the senator from Chittenden; no second was recorded in the transcript and no individual roll-call votes were recorded.

With the floor paused, conferees will reconvene at 9 a.m. to continue discussions with the aim of producing final language later in the day; senators were directed to return to the chamber at 2 p.m. for further action or announcements.