Committee reports several technical and veterans‑funding measures, including lottery allocation for veterans

The Civil Law Committee advanced three additional measures with largely technical or ballot‑language changes.

House Bill 165 (Representative Troy Abare) is a joint resolution amending the constitution to require the state treasurer to transfer $500,000 annually from the Lottery Proceeds Fund to a Veterans Service Grant Fund administered by the Department of Veteran Affairs. Committee members adopted amendment set 48 20 to set the annual appropriation at $500,000 and the committee reported the bill with amendments; the draft 6.8A report lists Nov. 3, 2026, as the proposed election date.

Senate Bill 77 (Senator Miller), a Law Institute recommendation to address the effects of leases of movable property and to protect good‑faith lessees in certain merchant leasing contexts, was introduced with Professor Melissa Longrass present to explain technical language; Representative Glorioso asked for a concrete example and the sponsor said the provision would protect lessees in situations such as loaning an excavator where the lender is not in the business of leasing.

Senate Bill 140 (Senator Miller) clarifies that multiple succession matters for several decedents may be handled in a single succession proceeding when jurisdiction and venue are proper; sponsors said the change reduces duplicative filings and court costs and discussed practical affidavit and judgment structure with committee members.

All three measures were reported favorably by the committee without extended opposition on the floor of the hearing; HB165 was reported with amendments and SB77 and SB140 were reported favorably by consensus.