Legislative schedule - week starting 3/20/2022

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to propagate propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority.  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4 at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language into the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one. 

This is the last week that bills can be heard in a regular committee other than the respective chamber's Appropriations Committee (though a few other committees may meet with the permission of that chamber's leader).

This week may have many strikers being proposed, but when the only committee available is Appropriations, things will get colorful.  Expect *lots* of ugly from the legislature then.

On Monday, 3/21 -

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4. 13 bills on the agenda, including 1 striker.

House Land, Agriculture and Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  2 bills on the agenda, including 1 striker.  That one involves increasing the state's sales tax to fund the state's fire districts.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  4 bills on the agenda.

Senate Government meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  10 bills on a mostly bad agenda, including  1 very bad striker, subject "elections; identification; revisions; tabulation; mail-in"

Senate Transportation and Technology meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.   8 bills on the agenda, including 1 striker, title "election; transportation tax".  Many changes proposed here.

On Tuesday, 3/22 -

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  6 or 7 bills on the agenda, including including SB1166, barring public employers from compensating employees for union activities; SB1278, imposing some fiduciary guidelines/rules on labor unions (held and not voted on last week) and, maybe (on the paper agenda but crossed out on the website) SB1567, barring employers from discriminating against employees based on their claiming a religious exemption as the reason that they didn't get a Covid vaccination.

House Education meets at 2 p.m.in HHR4.  Includes SB1211, requiring schools to make available all materials and activities, and have them subject to parental review and SB1630, making many changes to law regarding school buses/student transportation.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  4 bills on the agenda.

Senate Appropriation meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  8 bills on the agenda, including HB2255, adding the Hindu holiday of Diwali to the list of days where large municipalities cannot regulate the sale of use of fireworks (on last week's agenda, but held).

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  14 bills on a bad agenda, including 2 strikers.

On Wednesday, 3/23 -

House Government & Elections meets at 9 a.m. in HHR1.  19 bills on a bad agenda.

House Judiciary meets at 9 a.m.in HHR4.  13 bills on a bad agenda.

House Ways & Means meets at 9 a.m.in HHR3.  3 bills on the agenda, including SB1657, expanding school vouchers.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  12 bills on the agenda, including HB2086, exempting HPV and Covid vaccinations from the vaccinations required for enrollment in school.  1 striker proposed for another bill, title "breast implant surgery; informed consent" (text not available as of this writing).

Senate Finance meets at 10 a.m. in SHR109.  14 bills on the agenda.  11 strikers (text not available as yet; by some of the subjects, these look to be very ba ).  Among the bills that don't have a striker proposed yet are HB2473, barring public entities from discriminating against gun companies, and HB2637, barring the state from investing in, or to divest from if already invested in, companies that contribute to organizations that promote abortions or sexually explicit materials for students in grades K-12 (basically, no sex ed materials).

House Appropriations meets at 1:30 p.m. or upon adjournment of the floor session in HHR1.  10 bills on the agenda, including SB1707, using Covid as an excuse to expand school vouchers.

House Transportation meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  9 bills on the agenda.

Senate Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  6 bills on the agenda, with one striker re: cat declawing.  One very bad bill on the agenda - HCR2031, barring non-legislative entities from setting wage and non-wage compensation for employees (i.e. - a minimum wage that is higher than the state's).  Looks like it was written by an industry lobbyist; I'm not sure which one.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  6 bills on the agenda, 1 striker will be offered for the pro-Covid bill HB2619, subject "rainwater harvesting program".

On Thursday, 3/24 -

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  10 bills on the agenda, 5 with strikers (2 "same subject" strikers).  One of those is HB2251, making it a felony to aim a laser pointer or other "laser emitting device" at a police officer.