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Twenty-six days until the constitutional deadline to adjourn, which this year is May 21st!!

Now that the major omnibus funding bills have been passed off both the House and Senate floors, conference committees have been formed to work out the differences.  The House and Senate leadership are expected to agree to the “targets” for the conference committees by this Friday.  These targets will determine how much each conference committee is allowed to spend in their area of jurisdiction.  Although the conference committees are already meeting to discuss differences between the House and Senate versions of the bills, they will not be able to complete their work on key fiscal issues until the targets have been announced.   

Once a conference committee completes its bill, it will be sent back to the House and Senate floor for approval – no amendments are allowed.  If approved by both bodies, the Governor will have three days (not including Sunday) to sign or veto the bill.  If he takes no action, the bill automatically becomes law.  If he vetoes the bill, a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate is required to override the veto.  The Governor may also line-item veto individual appropriations within a bill, which also requires a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override.

Now is the time to contact members of a conference committee to urge them to include the issues that are important to you in the final bill.  We believe that the committees will be acting quickly to finish their work once the targets are announced, so don’t wait to make your voice heard. 

The major omnibus bills are being discussed in the following conference committees:

E-12 Education Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Greiling and Sen. Sen. Clark
Additional House members:  Mariani, Slawik, Fritz, Heidgerken
Additional Senate members:  Wiger, Saltzman, Rummel, G. Olson  

Public Safety Finance Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Paymar and Sen. Higgins
Additional House members:  Mullery, Liebling, Hilstrom, Smith
Additional Senate members:  Foley, M. Olson, Neuville, Rosen

Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Juhnke and Sen. Vickerman
Additional House members:  Otremba, Koenen, Eken, Hamilton
Additional Senate members:  Kubly, Erickson Ropes, Skogen, Dille  

Higher Education Finance Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Rukavina and Sen. Pappas
Additional House members:  Welti, Atkins, Brynaert, McFarlane
Additional Senate members:  Sheran, Latz, Robling, Michel

State Government Finance Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Kahn and Sen. Betzold
Additional House members:  Hilty, Winkler, Solberg, Urdahl
Additional Senate members:  Rest, Larson, Kubly, Olseen  

Environment and Energy Finance Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Wagenius and Sen. Anderson
Additional House members:  Hilty, Hansen, Dill, Ozment
Additional Senate members:  Frederickson, Saxhaug, Chaudhary, Torres Ray  

Health and Human Services Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Huntley and Sen. Berglin
Additional House members:  Thissen, Clark, Walker, Abeler
Additional Senate members:  Lynch, Lourey, Doll, Prettner Solon  

Transportation Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. Lieder and Sen. Murphy
Additional House members:  Hornstein, Hortman, Morrow, Erhardt
Additional Senate members:  Dibble, Sieben, Carlson, Bonoff  

Jobs and Economic Development Conference Committee
Co-chaired by Rep. M. Murphy and Sen. Tomassoni
Additional House members:  Rukavina, Clark, Mahoney, Gunther
Additional Senate members:  Metzen, Sparks, Scheid, Koch  

** The House has not yet passed a Tax bill, so there is no conference committee to resolve the differences between the House and Senate on major tax issues.