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Senate amends prison‑relocation bill to assign GOPB role, passes first substitute House Bill 445
Summary
Senators adopted a floor amendment replacing a municipality reference with the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) as the staffing authority for the Prison Relocation and Development Authority Act; the amended bill passed the Senate 28–0 and returns to the House.
On March 10 the Senate recalled first substitute House Bill 445, the Prison Relocation and Development Authority Act, to floor‑amend a staffing provision. Senator Eckhart explained that the bill's intent was to have the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) staff the authority but the language on the printed amendment had not reflected that change.
Senator Eckhart moved to delete the phrase "municipality in whose boundary the prison property is presently located" on line 82 and replace it with "Governor's Office of Planning and Budget." The floor amendment was debated briefly and adopted by voice vote. Senator Carr explained that the recall was necessary to make sure GOPB's role was explicit in the bill text.
The Senate then proceeded to final passage under suspension of the rules. First substitute House Bill 445, as amended on the floor, received 28 yea votes, 0 nay votes, 1 absent and will be returned to the House for signature. A brief incident occurred during floor action when Representative Hughes, the House sponsor, appeared unwell and required attention from staff; senators delayed further action until the representative had left the floor.
What happens next: The amended bill will move back to the House for the speaker's signature and enrolling.
