Senate committee approves SB 370; member says timing will aid economic development

At about 12:00 p.m., a Senate committee convened and approved SB 370 after the chair moved to report the bill, the panel announced.

The clerk read a roll of senators and announced nine members present, constituting a quorum. The chair introduced the bill as "SB 3 70" and invited a person identified in the record as Hovey to come forward. The chair then said, "I moved to get a bill to pay a report." The transcript records the subsequent approval: after a roll call, a committee member said "Aye," and the meeting record states, "Bill has been approved." The transcript does not provide a full roll-call tally.

The approval was followed by remarks from a committee member who described the item as a late addition and said its timing could support local economic work. The member said, "I'm glad we I'm glad this issue was found now instead of next week or the next week so we could help in our economic development. Very much, mister chairman. This is a last minute ad, and we appreciate that." No further procedural steps or committee assignments were specified in the transcript.

The session included brief procedural exchanges and an invitation for Hovey to address the committee; the transcript does not record Hovey speaking in the sampled segments. The clerk conducted roll call and confirmed a quorum before and after the motion.

Next steps were not specified on the record provided. The action recorded in the transcript is that the committee approved the bill during this meeting; the exact vote tally beyond one recorded "Aye" and the chair's motion is not included in the transcript excerpts.