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Committee reinstates House Bill 569 and removes amendment changing perjury penalties
Summary
The committee took House Bill 569 off the table, voted to remove an amendment that would have increased perjury penalties, and then concurred in the bill; discussion clarified mandatory minimums for perjury and false swearing.
The Senate Judiciary committee removed House Bill 569 from the table, debated an amendment that had altered perjury and false swearing penalties, and ultimately voted to remove that amendment before concurring in the bill.
Senator Ricky moved to take HB 569 off the table and later moved to concur in the bill. Committee members sought clarification about the amendment at issue (HB 569.002.001), which counsel confirmed had the effect of raising perjury to a felony by adding a mandatory six‑month minimum (one year or more being a felony threshold) and imposing mandatory minimums for false swearing. After discussion highlighting the policy implications, the committee voted by voice to remove the amendment. The committee then conducted a roll‑call concurrence vote and the motion to concur on HB 569 passed with seven yes votes and one no vote (as recorded in the committee roll call).
Senator Smith questioned counsel about sentencing language, and counsel confirmed the bill as returned to the committee sets a six‑month mandatory minimum for perjury and a 30‑day mandatory minimum for false swearing in the revised text under consideration. The committee recorded no further amendments, and the bill was concurred in and passed out of committee with a reported 7–1 roll call.
