Friday was the cutoff for the bills to be voted out of the House Appropriations and Senate Ways & Means committees. All the bills that are still alive now move to their full house of origin for consideration and possible amendment, and the deadline for bills to pass through their house of origin is Wednesday, March 8. In other words, in order to be alive after March 8, a bill that started in the House committees must pass a floor vote of the House and vice versa in the Senate. Bills that are necessary to implement the budget do not have these timelines and are alive until the legislature adjourns. (You can see the full cutoff calendar here.)
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council will release its next budget forecast on March 16. A Senate budget proposal is expected the following week, with a House proposal to follow within the next week.
We will be increasingly focused on the budget; read our budget priorities here. We are hard at work with lawmakers on the clinic cut issue and will be following up directly with members in the coming weeks. We are also carefully watching the hospital safety net legislation.
