Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Senate Rules Committee passes open conference committee measure

The debate was short and to the point. And, the Senate Rules Committee just passed Rep. Joe Cervantes' measure to open conference committees.

The same measure (the Senate version) is pending on the Senate floor, you'll remember. So we'll see if that one gets heard or not.

Here was the vote on the do-pass motion. The bill now goes to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Dianna Duran: yes
Sen. Stuart Ingle: no
Sen. Tim Jennings: no
Sen. Michael Sanchez: yes
Sen. Linda Lopez: yes

The best part of the debate was when Cervantes was presenting the bill and hoped he'd have good luck, being that's it's St. Patrick's Day and all...

"The tradition is to kiss the blarney stone and I'm preapred to kiss just about anything," (to get the bill passed) he joked.

Cervantes said the bill would help him as a lawmaker, because if he's not on the committee -- on big things like the budget, say -- he can't attend.

"I'm excluded as a member from those legislative meetings, and I don't think thats the way the Legislature ought to work."

Jennings said he is against the bill because he doesn't like the fact that members of the executive branch could find out who made motions to nix a project the governor wanted, for example.

"They would make those motions and he would come back and get event with them for those motions," Jennings said. "If anyone can't see that they are blind."

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