House Bill 272 Approved by Legislature!

House Bill 272 won approval in the Senate and the House on Tuesday, the last day for legislation to pass with the potential for gubernatorial veto protection. The bill now goes to the governor, where he can sign it into law, take no action during the 10-day veto recess and let it become law without his signature, or use his veto power to reverse the will of the legislature. The last two days for legislative action are March 29 and March 30. If the governor chooses to veto the legislation, the House and Senate can vote to override the veto with a 2/3 favorable vote during these last two days of the session. House Bill 272 won the support of over 2/3 of Representatives and Senators this week in the votes for approval.

Thank you to all our members who called their legislators in support of House Bill 272. Its passage would not have been possible without the messages and personal contacts!

Other bills of interest that passed this week include: HB 192, the one-year state budget; HB 238, a bill dealing with residency requirement for city utility commissioners; HB 393, allowing the PSC to grant reasonable extensions for water district commissioners to complete training; and SB 172, relating to Underground Facility Protection.

At the conclusion of the session (sometime in early April), we will publish a final issue of the 2021 Legislative Liaison with summaries of each tracked bill that will become law immediately (emergency) or later in July.

Please visit our legislative liaison page for complete coverage.