Friday, March 6, 2020
This week, the Senate and House of Representatives reached the deadline to amend and vote on legislation authored in the opposite chamber.
Bills that did not get amended and passed both chambers go straight to the governor.
However, Senate bills that pass out of the House and House bills that pass out of the Senate now return to their chamber of origin if they include amendments. From there they will again vote on these amended bills. They have the option to concur, or approve, and move them to the governor's desk to be signed into law. They also have the option to dissent, or disagree, and from there the bill goes to a conference committee.
Conference committees are where one member of each caucus – one Senate Republican and Democrat, and one House Republican and Democrat – sit down to find a solution that all can be happy with.
These meetings will be scheduled at least one hour beforehand, and can be viewed online at www.iga.in.gov
These meetings take place over the remainder of the legislative session, which must conclude, by law, by March 14.
