House lifts three bills to the third-reading calendar; HB2004 changes primary-certification deadline

Early in the session the reading clerk announced House Bill 2005 (Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund Amendment) would be ready for first reading and sent to Rules. Representative Hatch moved under suspension of the rules that House Bills 2003, 2004 and 2005 be lifted from the Rules Committee, read for the second time and placed at the top of the third-reading calendar; the motion carried and the bills were scheduled for third-reading consideration.

Representative Lorraine Pace presented House Bill 2004, telling the body the bill simply moves the deadline by which political parties must notify the Lieutenant Governor whether the state will run their primary, changing the date from March 1 to May 13 so parties can certify candidates after nominating conventions. "We're just going to change March 1 to May 13, which is the date when they have to certify their candidates to the Lieutenant Governor's office or the County Clerk's office," Pace said, describing the amendment as procedural and not intended to alter parties' internal decisions.

Members asked questions about whether the change was triggered by party convention practices; Pace and the sponsor said it does not alter those party choices. The clerk later announced voting on HB2004 was open; the transcript records the bill being processed for third-reading consideration. Representative Karen Morgan was identified earlier in the session as the sponsor of HB2005 (Tobacco Settlement Trust Fund Amendment) when the reading clerk introduced that measure for first reading.

Procedural housekeeping in the session included distributing amendment copies, motions to circle and uncircle bills to manage the floor amendment process, and an announcement that the House would recess to caucus at 10:00 a.m.