Executive Committee sets special-session bill deadline for Aug. 8, allows OLLS to make technical edits

The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council voted unanimously Thursday to adopt a staff memorandum setting the deadline for special-session bill requests at 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Friday, Aug. 8, and authorized the director of the Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS) to make technical edits to the document.

Ed Dacheco, director of OLLS, told the committee the staff draft distributed to members divides the 15 days of the special session so drafters and fiscal analysts can prepare bill text and fiscal notes and have bills ready for committee work on the first day. "This represents sort of staff's best approach of how to divide the 15 days," Dacheco said, describing the schedule and the decision points highlighted in the draft memorandum.

Members raised competing concerns about the time needed for traveling legislators to prepare proposals and the capacity of nonpartisan staff to draft bills and produce fiscal notes. A member identified as the majority leader noted that many legislators and staff were traveling and asked whether the deadline could be extended to Friday at 5 p.m. or to noon the following day. "Many legislators are traveling," the majority leader said, urging consideration of an extension to give returning members time to submit requests.

Senator Simpson and other members argued members needed more time to produce usable bill titles and background material. "I think giving members the necessary time to adequately prepare and submit bill ideas—especially if we are truly going to fix and solve some of these issues—we should give members that consideration," Senator Simpson said, urging at least a Friday deadline and suggesting Saturday at 5 p.m. as one option.

OLLS staff cautioned that pushing deadlines into the weekend would require moving other schedule dates and could mean fiscal notes were not ready for the committee's first meetings. Dacheco said an earlier Friday deadline was preferable: "The earlier in the day probably is better for us just to begin drafting," he said, but added that noon on Friday was workable.

The adopted memorandum contains other procedural elements Dacheco reviewed: (1) the governor's call (the proclamation dated Aug. 6, 2025) defines the scope of the special session; (2) OLLS will post bill-paper versions on a Legislative Council website when members permit; (3) each member is limited to one bill request under the special-session procedures; (4) concurrent resolutions that fall under the call are treated like bill requests; and (5) committee authority exists to waive deadlines in limited circumstances. Dacheco explained that waivers are rare but available and that the committee on delayed bills can grant exceptions.

Members also discussed whether statutory groups such as the Joint Budget Committee should be given drafting authority separate from individual member requests. Dacheco said the committee could include such a provision in the memorandum but that, under normal rules, joint committees' authority is governed by joint rules and would need explicit inclusion in this memo if the committee wanted to change that practice.

Madam Speaker moved to adopt the executive-committee resolution in response to the governor's call for a special session on Aug. 21, adjusting the bill deadline to Friday, Aug. 8 at noon and allowing the director of OLLS to make the technical adjustments outlined in the draft. The clerk called the roll; votes were recorded as yes for Representative Rand, Representative Pulisic, Senator Rodriguez, Senator Simpson, Madam Speaker and Mister President. The chair announced the motion passed unanimously. The committee then adjourned.

The adopted deadline means members have a defined cut-off for submitting bill titles and supporting information; OLLS and fiscal staff may begin drafting and preparing fiscal notes with the materials provided. The committee did not change other scheduled deadlines unless further waivers are granted.