Latest news with #HouseBill1108
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘I'm pretty upset': WA lawmaker wants to override governor's veto of his bill
The Washington state Capitol on April 18, 2025. (Photo by Jacquelyn Jimenez Romero/Washington State Standard) State lawmakers delivered 423 bills to Gov. Bob Ferguson this year and he signed them all. Except one. Its sponsor hopes the Washington Legislature will override the veto the next time it is in session. 'It shocked me,' said Rep. Mark Klicker, R-Walla Walla. 'People were excited about this and the governor turned around and vetoed it.' Klicker authored House Bill 1108 that sought to unearth 'the primary cost drivers for homeownership and rental housing' in Washington. It had 25 co-sponsors – 14 Republicans and 11 Democrats – and cleared the Legislature with only nine people voting against it. It directed the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to research, analyze and determine 'to the extent practicable' the forces at play in the cost of building single-family homes, apartments and other types of residential construction. Those conducting the study would have had to gather perspectives from all players with a tie to the housing industry. Economists, builders, unions, lenders, and realtors are on the list. So too are tenants and landlords, as well as cities, counties and public utility districts. The report would have been due Dec. 1, 2026. The bill carried a $233,000 price tag. Ferguson vetoed it quietly in his office on May 20, the final day on which he could act on legislation. 'Given the pressures on Washington's budget, our state's limited resources should be spent on identifying and implementing solutions to the housing crisis; I do not believe the cost of another study on cost drivers is warranted,' Ferguson wrote in his veto letter to lawmakers. Klicker learned of the veto the day before from Ferguson's staff. 'I am pretty upset,' Klicker said. 'I'll be honest with you. He doesn't want to know the truth about the reasons for the cost drivers.' The bill passed by margins of 94-4 in the House and 44-5 in the Senate. 'I really appreciated the Democrats working with me to get it to the governor's desk,' he said. He said Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, and Sen. Jessica Bateman, D-Olympia, the chairs of the House and Senate housing committees, respectively, were each instrumental in helping get it to the finish line. While the vote margins in the House and Senate exceed the two-thirds majority required to override a veto, it won't be easy to convince the Democratic leaders of the Legislature to do so, especially since the governor is a Democrat. 'I am going to talk to them,' Klicker said. 'This was the bill that was most important to me.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House panel says no to McCook Lake fund
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Legislature will not set aside any additional dollars for clean-up of McCook Lake. McCook Lake flood: Did the mitigation plan make things worse? House Bill 1108 would have created the McCook Lake contingency fund and to transfer moneys to the fund. On Monday, HB1108 was sent to the 41st Day by the House Appropriations Committee which effectively kills the bill in a 7-2 vote. HB1108 sponsor Republican Rep. Chris Kassin said the set aside money would be to cover needed gaps in the clean-up of McCook Lake. 'This is to help restore the lake, which is a state-owned lake,' Kassin said. Kassin and other bill supporters have said in prior legislative testimony the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department plans to clean-up the lake which was damaged in the June flood. The lake has cars, trees, lawn chairs, portions of structure and other debris. The concern is that there may not be enough money to thoroughly clean the lake. Kassin's original version had asked for up to $2 million but the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee changed that to $1 to allow House Appropriations to discuss the bill. 'I appreciate Representative Kassin bringing this bill forward,' said committee member Republican Rep. Liz May. 'My frustration is Game, Fish and Parks has not made this a priority.' With the recent attention to the needed clean-up of the lake, May said she expects the GFP to make it a priority. Committee member Republican Rep. Scott Moore moved to send it to the 41st Day. There was no discussion after that motion. Although she appreciated the bill, May voted to send it to the 41st Day. Kassin and Democrat Rep. Eric Muckey voted against the move to kill the bill, while Moore and fellow Republican Representatives Mike Derby, Terri Jorgenson, Jack Kolbeck, Al Novstrup and John Sjaarda voted in favor of the 41st Day. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
And here lies a recap of key bills that failed to make it to the finish line
Several House bills await further action in the House chamber on Feb. 17, 2024 before moving forward in the 2025 legislative session. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle) It started with more than 1,250 bills. And after last week's chamber-swapping deadline, the Indiana General Assembly is down to about 340 pieces of legislation that can move forward into law. From birth control and bats to gambling and marijuana, lawmakers will likely have to try again next year on these measures. Legislation regulating vehicle towing tripped up House Republicans for more than two weeks before it met an early demise. House Bill 1493 would've forced towing companies to create service rate sheets, display them 'conspicuously' and show them to owners present when their vehicles are being towed. It also would've required that any property owner's future contract with a towing company contain removal and storage rates alongside other provisions, and mandated that towing companies give vehicles back within 24 hours of getting partial payment. Other pieces would've regulated emergency towing services, created a statewide towing complaint process, and banned overcharging and paid referrals. The measure made it through committee on a unanimous vote, but languished on the House's daily agenda for eight straight session meetings as House Republican colleagues had filed competing amendments. It wasn't taken up before a critical deadline. Another take on towing regulations, House Bill 1108, failed to get a committee hearing. A proposal legalizing online lottery and casino gambling never made it to the House's floor. Legislative leaders talk post-moratorium gambling expansions, more bills reach halfway point House Bill 1432 easily advanced from a subject-matter committee last month after three hours of discussion, but wasn't heard by a finance-focused committee before a deadline. House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, said it was 'pretty tough' to find consensus on the complex legislation. Advocates argued that Hoosiers are already playing illegal versions of these games, so legalization could benefit Indiana businesses and state coffers. Opponents testified that expanding gambling would increase the likelihood more people get hooked and develop addictions. Some provisions would've established a bulked-up program for responsible gambling and gambling addiction help. Attempts to designate a state mammal and state fruit also were not, well, fruitful. Jasper Elementary School students lobbied at the Indiana Statehouse for Republican Rep. Shane Lindauer's House Bill 1618, which would have named the persimmon as Indiana's state fruit. Fourth-graders said the idea stemmed from a persuasive writing assignment. They emphasized in the House government committee that the sweet, autumnal fruit are native to Indiana, great for cooking and full of health benefits. Lawmakers entertained the discussion but never took a vote on the bill. Separately, House Bill 1237, offered by Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, sought to make Myotis sodalis, also known as the Indiana bat, the official mammal of the Hoosier State. The proposal never received a committee hearing, effectively killing it, too. A repeat attempt to require video surveillance of special education classrooms failed to pass in the first half of session following pushback from schools and teachers. House Bill 1285 was the second such attempt by Rep. Beck Cash, R-Zionsville, to mandate round-the-clock electronic recording equipment in special education classrooms, sensory rooms, seclusion spaces and time-out areas. Parents said the move would help protect kids and keep them informed of behavioral incidents. District administrators weren't opposed, but only if the state helped pay for cameras and other related expenses. Educators, however, were less receptive and maintained that increased staff training — not micromanagement — will better ensure student safety. Lawmakers in the House Education Committee ultimately nixed the video-recording language. What's left in the bill sent to the Senate is a provision to allow parents an opportunity to collect their student's property if the child no longer attends the school, and another to permit parents to record meetings concerning their child's individualized education program. An attempt to expand access to birth control for poor Hoosiers failed after a battle over the definition of birth control. House Bill 1169 started as a simple attempt to establish a fund to provide free birth control to Indiana residents who are eligible for Medicaid. Roughly half of all the births in the state have been paid for by Medicaid since 2017. But a Republican amendment in committee removed IUDs and condoms from the definition of birth control and added information on 'fertility awareness based methods' like menstrual cycle tracking, also known as the rhythm method. The bill passed the House Public Health Committee but didn't receive a hearing in the Ways and Means Committee, which focused on financial ramifications of a bill. It is unlikely the language will return given the state's tight budget situation. Lawmakers scrapped a push to relocate the license for a poor-performing casino early in the session. Full House Resorts has said revenues at Rising Star Casino Resort have plummeted as Ohio and Kentucky relax their gambling laws. Key lawmakers expressed interest in a move over the interim — including the bill's eventual slayer. Public Policy Committee Chair Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, pulled the proposal after listening to about 20 opponents, telling the Indiana Capital Chronicle he didn't plan to allow a vote. Anti-relocation witnesses feared gambling addictions and other risks to their small community's family values. CONTACT US True to his word, neither Senate Bill 293 nor the language it contained went any further. But legislation to 'identify the top three regions in the state' for a license relocation is moving. Senate Bill 43 would require regulators to present their findings to the State Budget Committee by October. The last time Indiana moved a casino license, a former lawmaker ended up behind bars for his role in an attempted quid pro quo. Every bill carrying 'marijuana' in its title died by session's halfway point – even a trio intended to ban marijuana-related advertisements within Indiana. Measures establishing medical marijuana programs — one led by a House Republican, the other by a Senate Democrat — didn't get committee hearings and died. Neither did House Bill 1145, which would've decriminalized possession of two ounces or less of marijuana. Indiana has long resisted any attempts to loosen laws on the drug, with Republican legislative leaders in December expressing concern about addiction, crime and more. Overwhelming opposition from county officials additionally killed a Republican bill that would have shifted authority over large-scale utility infrastructure projects from local governments to the state. Of greatest concern to House Bill 1628's opponents were provisions to strip local governments of their ability to approve or deny construction of power plants, water systems, gas pipelines and transmission that span across multiple counties — instead giving the state more decision-making control over the zoning and approval processes for those proposals. Bill author Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, called it a response to ongoing resistance of local governments to greenlight solar, wind and other renewables projects that are increasingly necessary to support the state's growing energy demands. Equally important, he contended, is a transition from coal to more reliable and cost effective power sources that can sustain the influx of data centers and other economic development endeavors ventures coming to Indiana. Critics, however, decried the proposal as 'overreach,' and argued that it unfairly — maybe even 'unconstitutionally' — weakens local dominion. The bill received multiple hours of discussion in the House utilities committee, but it was never put to a vote and failed to advance to the full chamber. A Republican-authored bill to abolish the death penalty in Indiana also died after not getting a committee hearing. Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, shared intentions earlier this month to scale back his House Bill 1030 to address the efficacy of execution drugs before they can be used, and to alter rules around who can administer life-ending drugs and witness executions. Death row inmate Joseph Corcoran executed for quadruple murder Ideas to narrow the proposal — and give it a better chance at advancing through the legislative process — were unsuccessful, though. Despite bipartisan support, Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, did not put the bill on her committee's agenda. Republican House Speaker Todd Huston, of Fishers, said 'he would not anticipate' a death penalty bill to move in the 2025 session. Senate Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, called Morris' bill 'interesting,' but said his caucus had not discussed the issue. Morris can still try to find a home for language but no similar vehicles are moving. Lawmakers have passed numerous bills aimed at controlling health care costs but one died under its own weight. House Bill 1502 would have limited how much the state employee health plan would pay for services in comparison to Medicare reimbursement rates. The legislation would have saved the state $88.5 million per fiscal year for hospital services. It was opposed by stakeholders in the health care industry. Several amendments were filed on the bill on second reading, including to exempt some or all county hospitals. The House author didn't call the bill down on its final eligible day, meaning it is now dead. But the language could be inserted into other related bills during the remainder of the session. A move to ban pill-based abortions, and to require women to file an affidavit of rape to meet one of the state's few exceptions, got no traction. Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, filed Senate Bill 171 but it did not receive a hearing and died. It is unlikely the language would be moved elsewhere because Republican leaders in the House and Senate have said they're content with the current status of Indiana's abortion laws. The legislation would have outlawed the use of abortion pills even in abortions that meet the state's narrow exemptions. And it would have required a woman who seeks an abortion under the state's rape or incest exceptions to provide the doctor with an affidavit under penalties of perjury attesting to the rape or incest. This requirement was defeated in 2022 during an amendment fight. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
McCook Lake bill waits for panel action
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The possibility of more state money to help clean up McCook Lake from the June flooding will wait for action in the House Committee on Appropriations. House Bill 1108 would provide state money to create a fund to help 'make grants to cover costs associated with cleaning up and restoring McCook Lake, including the replacement of pipes for the McCook Lake pumping system, and flood mitigation planning for McCook Lake.' Age verification bill passes through Senate committee The bill originally had up to $2 million attached but on Feb. 11 the House Agriculture and Natural Resources committee changed it to read $1 so that appropriations could determine a specific dollar amount. Appropriations committee chairman Republican Rep. Mike Derby recommended the bill's sponsor Republican Rep. Chris Kassin and bill supporters meet with the state's Game Fish and Parks to discuss what the GFP plan is to dredge and clean the lake. Kassin said in his earlier testimony that HB1108 is designed to help pay for clean-up that may not be covered under the GFP plan. The lake has cars, pieces of structure, trees and other debris in it from the June flooding, bill supporters said. 'We're concerned (the GFP) will do a simple job and remove three islands (created by the flood),' said Dirk Lohry of the McCook Lake Lake Association. At least 103 houses were damaged in the flood, said Chris Bogenrief of the lake association. Twenty-one have been demolished. During the flooding, residents 'saw a wall of corn cobs four-feet high flowing toward us,' he said. 'Anything in you'd have sitting in your yard…is now in the lake sitting there,' bill supporter Republican Rep. Bill Shorma said. Members of the association and others are disappointed in how slow the GFP process has been, Lohry said. The GPF plans to take bids in April, with construction to start in June, he said. Bill supporters are also seeking to use the proposed state money to replace pipes used for a water pumping system that releases and takes in water for the lake. The operation of that system is about $100,000 a year. Bogenrief said private donors that include lake residents pay for about 75% of the cost, while North Sioux City pays for about 25%. Derby also asked why McCook Lake is still a state-owned lake and not a private lake. State water laws prevent the lake from become a privately-owned lake, said Duncan Koch of the state's Bureau of Finance Management (BFM). While McCook Lake is a state-owned lake, the state has no obligation to pay for the pumping system, Koch said. 'If the state creates a fund for McCook Lake, it would be creating a precedent for similar funds to be created in the state,' Koch said in the BFM's opposition to HB1108. Money from the bill could also be used to help pay for a new flood mitigation plan for the lake. Supporters said the plan used in June was from the 1970s when the lake dwellings were mainly fishing type shacks. Koch also said HB1108 would create a duplication of funds that the state already provides. Committee member Democrat Rep. Eric Muckey asked for more details on duplication. Koch said the duplication is in emergency disaster reimbursement funds but that he would also need more information from the state's Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
