Conference committee approves correction to Senate Bill 430 to add omitted Schedule I substance

A conference committee on Senate Bill 430 approved a conference committee report to correct an error in the enrolled bill and add a previously omitted Schedule I substance, the committee chair said during a short meeting.

Jason, the reviser who presented the change, said SB 430 is a shell bill whose substantive provisions were placed in another bill and signed by the governor. He told the committee that one intended version of a controlled-substance listing was left out of the conference report sent to the governor and that the reviser's office would prepare a roughly 27-page conference committee report to add the missing substance and reconcile two criminal-code provisions involving the theft and expungement statutes. "We realized after the conference committee report was signed, and the bill was enrolled, that we made an error," Jason said.

The chair framed the committee action as a technical correction, not a reopening of policy. "So an I vote on 430 is merely saying, yes. This is what was the intention of that bill," the chair said, asking members to reflect that the report should show what both houses had agreed to before the bill went to the governor.

A committee member asked whether a previously signed "agree to disagree" would suffice or whether a new procedural step was required for the new conference committee report. Jason advised that because the committee is technically conferencing on Senate Bill 430 and no "agree to disagree" had been run on that specific bill, any members unwilling to sign the new conference report could require running an "agree to disagree." He added that if all members sign the report, that extra step can be skipped and that the reviser's office anticipates circulating signature pages.

During discussion a committee member identified in the transcript as Reese said he was concerned some lawmakers may not have fully understood the difference between the versions that were intended for inclusion. Reese questioned whether the omitted listing was mitragynine, describing it as an alkaloid related to kratom. The chair emphasized the meeting's purpose was to correct the enrolled text to match the committee's prior agreement, not to re-litigate the policy.

The chair then called a voice vote. Members present voiced "aye," no opposition was announced, and the chair declared that the conference committee report had passed; signature pages were to be circulated for signatures.

The committee's action will result in a revised conference committee report that, according to the reviser's office summary to the committee, (1) reconciles two criminal-code sections (theft and expungement), and (2) amends Schedule I of the drug code to add the one additional substance that was omitted from the enrolled report. The committee did not reopen debate on the underlying policy choices; its members characterized the vote as a correction to reflect what both chambers had intended.