Joint Rules Committee adopts change to budget-amendment timeline to give members and public more review time
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At a meeting of the Joint Rules Committee, members approved an amendment to Joint Rule 14-1M that changes when amendments to the mirror budget bill must be submitted and posted so members and the public have additional time to review them.
The change requires that amendment ideas for the mirror budget bill be delivered to the respective House or Senate attorney’s office by the conclusion of the committee of the whole consideration for the mirror budget bill, and that approved amendments be posted by 10 a.m. the following day. A reading of the budget bill must start not earlier than 24 hours after the approval deadline, effectively adding one full day between committee of the whole and second reading.
The rule was introduced and explained by Matt Obrecht, legislative service office staff, who said the change "will put more pressure on LSO staff that night, the final night of Committee of the Whole, the final night of second reading to get those amendments all wrapped up and done," and added that the work "would have been done anyways" but shifted from an early-morning task to a late-night one.
Obrecht described the likely schedule under the new language: committee of the whole could begin on a Friday, continue on Monday, with all proposed budget amendments due to LSO attorneys by the end of Monday’s committee of the whole; the attorneys must finish and have amendments approved by 10 a.m. the next day; second reading would then occur no earlier than 24 hours after that approval (Wednesday in Obrecht’s example), and third-reading amendments would be due by the conclusion of second reading with final third reading occurring later the same week.
The committee heard that the change originated with Senator Driscoll and was refined by the Legislative Tech and Process Committee and Management Council. Committee members also noted public and agency concerns that the previous timeline left too little time for affected agencies and constituents to review amendment text and assess impacts.
The committee moved to adopt the amended rule; the motion was approved by voice vote.
The change is procedural: it does not create new appropriations or change substantive budget amounts but adjusts filing and posting deadlines and the sequencing of readings in order to allow public review. Obrecht cautioned that the earlier filing and same-day approval deadlines will require LSO staff to work later hours on amendment preparation and numbering, rather than performing that work early the next morning.
The committee did not receive public comment on this item during the meeting. The rule was adopted by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally.
Looking ahead, staff said they will prepare floor-manager talking points for the rule when it is scheduled for floor consideration.
The change requires that amendment ideas for the mirror budget bill be delivered to the respective House or Senate attorney’s office by the conclusion of the committee of the whole consideration for the mirror budget bill, and that approved amendments be posted by 10 a.m. the following day. A reading of the budget bill must start not earlier than 24 hours after the approval deadline, effectively adding one full day between committee of the whole and second reading.
The rule was introduced and explained by Matt Obrecht, legislative service office staff, who said the change "will put more pressure on LSO staff that night, the final night of Committee of the Whole, the final night of second reading to get those amendments all wrapped up and done," and added that the work "would have been done anyways" but shifted from an early-morning task to a late-night one.
Obrecht described the likely schedule under the new language: committee of the whole could begin on a Friday, continue on Monday, with all proposed budget amendments due to LSO attorneys by the end of Monday’s committee of the whole; the attorneys must finish and have amendments approved by 10 a.m. the next day; second reading would then occur no earlier than 24 hours after that approval (Wednesday in Obrecht’s example), and third-reading amendments would be due by the conclusion of second reading with final third reading occurring later the same week.
The committee heard that the change originated with Senator Driscoll and was refined by the Legislative Tech and Process Committee and Management Council. Committee members also noted public and agency concerns that the previous timeline left too little time for affected agencies and constituents to review amendment text and assess impacts.
The committee moved to adopt the amended rule; the motion was approved by voice vote.
The change is procedural: it does not create new appropriations or change substantive budget amounts but adjusts filing and posting deadlines and the sequencing of readings in order to allow public review. Obrecht cautioned that the earlier filing and same-day approval deadlines will require LSO staff to work later hours on amendment preparation and numbering, rather than performing that work early the next morning.
The committee did not receive public comment on this item during the meeting. The rule was adopted by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally.
Looking ahead, staff said they will prepare floor-manager talking points for the rule when it is scheduled for floor consideration.
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