84th Recap: The Wild Tale of HB 2977

One of the more interesting bills we worked on, followed and watch carefully (especially in the final days of session) was HB 2977. This bill started out wide open and broad. It was filed by the chair of the County Affairs committee, and as he explained to TMHA and then as he laid the bill out in committee his intent was to have a broad bill that could be a vehicle for specific bills or issues that the committee would want to advance but might not otherwise survive on their own. As filed this bill included increases in county land-use and zoning authority, which was of extreme concern to TMHA. However, in working with the author and other trade groups, the bill changed substantially removing all the provisions TMHA was concerned about.

The new version of the bill addressed issues spanning from mental health training programs, to recycling surplus materials, to certain contract evaluation processes. Once changed the substantially modified bill moved out of committee, then was passed by the House 109 to 27. 

The bill then went to the Senate were it sat idly as the clocked ticked by. Two weeks after coming over to the Senate, and with just seven days left in the session, the bill received a Senate committee hearing. But once in the Senate committee the bill underwent another major transformation. Not only did the bill go from eight pages to 26, the Senate author decided to use this previously stated "vehicle" as just that. The Senate author included significant changes to hospital billing, county authority, and even a politically controversial provision dealing with the definition of marriage. The much expanded and now politically controversial version of HB 2977 made it out of committee and was sent to the Senate Intent Calendar.

However, the Calendar was the end of the road for the much changed, manipulated, and discussed HB 2977, which proved too controversial and with too many changes to digest in the final viable days. As a result the vehicle that was HB 2977 blew its engine and died.

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