The Thicket at State Legislatures

Banging Gavels Simultaneously

by Karl Kurtz

I love the rituals of legislatures.  Here's a nice one from an AP story about adjournment of the South Dakota Legislature on Monday this week:

The two chambers officially received reports on the bills signed by the governor. The doors in the back of each chamber were then opened so House Speaker Tim Rave of Baltic and Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard, who presides in the Senate, could see each other. They then rapped their gavels to adjourn both chambers at the same time.

Does any other legislature have this same tradition of banging gavels simultaneously in the house and senate?  In our conversations about this around the office, we can't think of many capitols where the presiding officers of the house and senate can easily see each other, even with doors open, either because of a lack of line of sight or distance.  What about Montana, whose capitol has a very similar floor plan to that of South Dakota?

4/1 update: Be sure to see Dan Vock's comment below, which contains a link to a great story from 2008, "When sessions end, gavels and hankies fall," from Stateline.org about end of session rituals.  I had seen the story at the time (in fact, Meagan Dorsch wrote about it in The Thicket) but had forgotten about it.

South Dakota dome photo credit: Eric Oxendorf

'Tis the Season...

...for legislative sessions, that is.  The legislatures of all 50 states, the five American territories and commonwealths and the District of Columbia will be in session this year.  Many of them convened this week.  As of today, 21 of them are in session, and by next Wednesday 46 will have gone back to work.  Most of the rest convene in late January or early February.  The states with the most unusual legislative starting dates are Florida, which convenes on March 3, and the Louisiana legislature, which doesn't begin until April 27.

The first to adjourn this year will be the Virginia General Assembly on February 28.  "All 50 State Legislatures will Hold Sessions in 2009" has links to a complete calendar, a backgrounder on full and part-time legislatures and our forecast of top issues in 2009 sessions. 

Democratic Convention Affects Legislative Sessions--or Vice Versa

by Karl Kurtz

The only state that is scheduled to be in regular session during the Democrats' national convention is California, where the Legislature and governor have not yet reached agreement on the budget. According to press reports, Speaker Karen Bass initially excused members of the Assembly to attend the convention in Denver but then changed her mind after Sen. President Pro Tem Don Perata kept senators in town to work on the budget.  Several members returned to Sacramento after a brief appearance in Denver.

The Massachusetts General Court is in "informal" session this week, and the Boston Globe reports:

How dead was it at the State House? So dead the House couldn't find a quorum. So dead the 40-member Senate managed to attract only three of its members. And so dead that the only sound, much of yesterday, was of trash barrels being pushed by the maintenance crew.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley, even though a Democrat, has called the legislature into special session on Wednesday to deal with his veto of a boat-towing bill.  According to a Charlotte Observer report, the members of the legislature are in a mood to override the veto, something that has never before happened in North Carolina under its relatively recent consitutional provision for a veto.  Under the veto provisions the governor must call the legislature into special session within 10 days of issuing a veto.  Speaker (and NCSL president) Joe Hackney and several other legislators who are in Denver will have to return to Raleigh for the session.

[Sept. 2 update on North Carolina story: In addition to Gerry Cohen's comment below reporting on the veto override session, see an AP story, "NC veto override didn't feel that historic."]

Arizona Legislature Ends Session

By Jan Goehring

The Arizona Legislature adjourned sine die on Friday, June 27. With the end of the fiscal year looming and a possible partial state government shutdown at stake, the Legislature resolved a difficult budget. Facing a nearly $2 billion shortfall, the budget includes agency cuts, fund transfers, deferral of school construction and some borrowing.

In the last hours of the session, the Senate agreed to send the voters a referendum to amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. It had previously passed the House.

New laws will help improve Child Protective Services, allow photo enforcement on highways, change the high school exit exam, regulate mortgage loan originators, and strengthen DUI laws. 

Louisiana Adjournment

"Chaotic legislative session comes to an end" is the Times-Picayune's headline summarizing Louisiana's legislative session that adjourned yesterday.  Here are the top lines of the story:

Lawmakers provided new money for education and health care, overhauled the state's worker-training system, bolstered the state's mental health safety net and steered tax dollars to a private school voucher program for poor children in New Orleans.

But the session is likely to be best remembered for two items that were not part of the governor's plan: an increase of legislative salaries from $16,800 to $37,500 a year, and a $300-million-a-year tax cut that the administration initially opposed but ultimately embraced....

And while House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, is a subject of derision on radio talk show and Internet chat boards, his stewardship of the pay-raise bill earned him bipartisan acclaim from his colleagues, who saw him as standing up to the administration.

"This is the closest we have come to being an independent body from the fourth floor, and that bodes well for this body," Rep. Roy Burrell, D-Shreveport, said as lawmakers prepared to leave the Capitol.

We first wrote about seeds of change in Louisiana that might lead to more assertiveness on the part of the Legislature a year ago in "Changes in the Louisiana Legislature."

Sine Die Traditions

by Meagan Dorsch

Each year, our NCSL contributors to the Thicket work hard to post a Sine Die (scroll down if you hit this link) for each legislature as it goes dark.

This morning, I noticed an article posted by Dan Petty at Stateline.org. Dan had a little fun with his Sine Die piece, delving into the traditions state legislatures have for the final day of session. 

Our own Karl Kurtz wrote an article on Sine Die and other Vulgarities, where you can find a great list of legislative localisms (this is also one of the most googled article in the Thicket).

Please enjoy both pieces when you have some time, and let us know of any other (Sine Die) traditions that your state might celebrate!

Sessions Over in Florida, Hawaii, Colorado, Minnesota and Vermont

by Julie Lays

More states have ended their legislative sessions.

• Florida's session was overshadowed by the state's lack of money, according to the Associated Press. Lawmakers did manage, however, to pass a $66.2 billion balanced budget, with more than $4 billion in cuts targeted mostly at school children and Medicaid patients.
• Hawaii lawmakers ended their session by approving a smoking ban in public places, allocating $3 million for schools and requiring solar water heaters in new housing. They also approved a $50-million tax cut. But the session may be remembered more for those bills that got away as for those that passed, according to the Honolulu Advertiser.
• Colorado's 119-day session ended May 6. Legislators passed major changes to education curriculum and school construction, but they couldn't find solutions to transportation issues. Lawmakers passed a ballot question that will go before the voters this fall to change how citizens amend the constitution through the initiative process.
• The Minnesota Legislature adjourned May 18 with a relatively well-received compromise budget between the Democratic Legislature and Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty. According to an editorial in In-Forum, "the relatively cordial end to the session is in stark contrast to previous sessions, and that’s probably a good thing in the long run." Lawmakers boosted per student school funding by $51, came to an agreement with the governor to expand public and private health insurance coverage, and passed a property tax relief package and more state aid for cities, counties and townships.
• Saving the state money, the Vermont General Assembly adjourned two weeks early on May 3. In a surprise move, legislative leaders said they won’t bring the legislature back for a day in June to consider whether to override any vetoes. According to WCAX-TV, lawmakers passed a bill to help Vermonters use less heating oil, revamped the state's prison system to save money and passed a balanced budget in tough economic times with no new taxes.

Sine Die: Legislatures in Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky and Maine adjourned in the second half of April

by Julie Lays

• Iowa ended its session April 28 at 2:38 in the morning by finishing work on the $6 billion budget. This session, the General Assembly passed a smoking ban in public places and created an insurance consumer advocate. Lawmakers also voted to help pay for roads with increased vehicle registration fees, a move the Des Moines Register believed was "a good first step."
• Iowa's neighbor to the west, Nebraska, finished up its session on April 17 with a review of more than two dozen bills. Nebraska lawmakers passed bills on highway funding, school finance, standardized testing in public schools and a statewide smoking ban, to name a few. The Topeka Capital-Journal praised the nonpartisan, unicameral's efficiency. "They start accomplishing things early," the newspaper said in a editorial. "They don't try to cram everything into the frantic final days."
• Kentucky also adjourned its 60-day session in mid-April. Lawmakers approved more than 150 bills ranging from creating incentives to attract math and science teachers to allowing 16-year-olds to give blood to protecting streams and rivers to encouraging solar and wind energy.
• Maine lawmakers, in a final push to fund the controversial Dirigo Health program, passed a bill that will raise taxes on beer, wine and soda, as well as levy a surcharge on health insurance claims. The Morning Sentinel called the  session "largely effective." Lawmakers also enacted a jail consolidation plan, took action to secure state driver's licenses and identification cards, authorized bonds totaling $160 million to pay for shoring up the state's transportation infrastructure, and improved the state's landmark school consolidation law. The Legislature approved a state budget rewrite to offset a $190 million shortfall in Maine’s $6.3 billion two-year general fund budget. Legislative analysts, however, say revenue exceeded projections by $23.2 million in April, which could help offset cuts, according to the Associated Press in the Bangor Daily News.

Early April Adjournments in Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland

by Karl Kurtz and Bakur Kvaratskhelia

Catching up on our sine die series, four state legislatures "went dark" in the first few weeks of April.

• The Idaho Legislature adjourned its 87-day session on April 2. State revenue came in slower than expected, leading to the failure of new spending proposals, especially in the area of transportation.  Republican Governor Bruce Otter and the Republican majority in the legislature were often at odds.  Significant tax changes included an increase in the rebate that Idahoans receive for sales taxes on groceries and an increase in the exemption for business equipment taxes.
• The Georgia General Assembly completed its 40-day legislative session on April 4. Major legislation enacted included a bill that facilitates creation of charter schools, a measure to make it easier for permit holders to carry weapons in restaurants and other public places, and a plan to make it easier to build new water reservoirs in the drought-stricken state.  The House and Senate each had dueling tax cut measures and were unable to reach agreement on either of them.   
• The Maryland General Assembly wrapped up its 2008 session on April 8, with $500 million in budget cuts in a faltering state economy at the forefront. Gov. Martin O'Malley described the session as a "really grueling" period. In response to a computer industry outcry, the legislature repealed a computer services tax that it has passed in a special session last November.
• The Alaska Legislature adjourned its session--the first since voters mandated a 90 day limit compared to the previous 121 day limit--on April 13.  Majority Republican leaders hailed the session as a great success, while fellow Republican Governor Sarah Palin chastised the Legislature for spending too much money.  High oil prices and an oil tax increase enacted last year allowed the Legislature to put $5 billion into two rainy day funds this year.  Gov. Palin has called a special session for June to deal with an oil pipeline issue.

Photo credit: Sine die in the Georgia Senate by Andre in Georgia Politics Unfiltered.

Four Regular Sessions and One Special Adjourn

by Karl Kurtz

The Virginia and Washington legislatures adjourned on Thursday last week, Indiana on Friday and South Dakota yesterday (Monday).  (Click on the map to see which states are in session and which are not.)  Here are links to session wrap-up stories:

• A budget dispute in the Virginia General Assembly caused the session to go five days over the scheduled adjournment date.  Plans are to come back for a special session to deal with unresolved transportation and capital outlay issues.  Here is a Richmond Times-Dispatch summary.
• "Legislative tally: 60 days, 335 bills" is the headline in The News-Tribune's summary of Washington's even-numbered year short session.
• Property tax reform dominated Indiana's legislative session this year, so much so that the Indianapolis Star refers to all the other legislation as "small stories."
• Here's a summary of the final day of South Dakota's session from the Argus-Leader.  As soon as there is an overall session summary available we will amend this post and add it.

In addition, the Louisiana Legislature adjourned its second special session called by new governor Bobby Jindal who "batted 1,000" on the business tax cuts and $1.1 billion in new spending that he wanted, according to The Times-Picayune.