Conference committee report for local-government bill fails amid single-subject and separation-of-powers objections

The House considered a Joint Conference Committee report dated March 6, 2002, on House Bill 116, titled Local Government Officials Amendments. The Madam Clerk reported the Senate had adopted the conference report and transmitted the substitute bill for the House's consideration.

Representative Daniels urged members to reject the committee report on constitutional and procedural grounds. "In Congress ... they stick any amendment onto any old bill. There's a Christmas tree. We don't do that here," Daniels said on the floor, arguing the conference-substitute combined different subjects and violated the state constitutional requirement that each bill have a single subject. He warned that the approach was both "unwise" and possibly unconstitutional.

Supporters of the conference report said the substitute language addressed real issues and had been vetted with the governor's office, attorney general's office, Department of Human Services, and legislative counsel. Representative (speaker 19) argued the amendments equalized penalties between cities and counties and corrected statutory imbalances, and said the conference committee had produced a broadly supported substitute.

After extended debate about process, scope and separation of powers, the House put the conference report to a roll-call vote. The substitute House Bill 116, as amended by the conference committee report, received 34 yes votes and 38 no votes and failed to pass; the transcript records that the measure "will be filed."