The Nitty Gritty

So now that the governor has introduced his bond proposals, how will they move through the Legislature? The first step was finding people to carry his bills. That has been done. On the Senate side, Pro Tem Don Perata has waived the required 30-day waiting period for policy committees to hear the bills. In the Senate, those bills are SB 1163 (infrastructure and courts), SB 1164 (education), SB 1165 (transportation), and SB 1166 (water and flood protection). At the same time, both houses have bills are tha headed to conference committe. They are Senate Bills 81, 82, 83, 84 and 85 and Assembly Bills 147, 148, 149 150 and 152. That committee will be comprised of Senators Kevin Murray, Wes Chesbro and Dennis Hollingsworth as well as Assemblymembers John Laird, Judy Chu and Rick Keene. Both the conference committee and the policy committees are expected to begin meeting on the week of January 23, with March 15 (tentatively) the deadline for placing the bonds on the June primary ballot.