We're Moving Now! Thursday's conference committee saw the first language approvals for the bill that is being jointly developed. Senate and House staff went through the side-by-side comparison section-by-section, with a number of provisions that were either the same or only contained minor language differences but met the same exact purpose gaining approval of the conference committee. It was an arduous process as both sides took the time to make certain the members from the other body understood their provisions. There were numerous interruptions to the conference committee proceedings as members of the House often had to head to the House floor to vote on amendments offered to the statewide smoking ban bill.

The conference committee will not be meeting Friday, but will be meeting on Saturday morning to discuss the property tax relief provisions in both bills. The meeting begins at 9:30 AM and is scheduled to end around noon. The weather is supposed to be absolutely beautiful on Saturday and I know that none of you have anything planned, so it would be a perfect morning to head to the Capitol. Seriously, I look forward to seeing any of you who do decide to stop by.