Senate Public Health Committee Waives Rule and Passes House Bill 10 o 1

The Senate Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee voted to invoke Senate Rule 7 and immediately consider House Bill 10 o 1 after the measure was referred to the Senate the same day. The chair moved to waive the usual intervening-day requirement, the committee approved the waiver, the sponsor gave a brief explanation, and the committee then voted to pass the bill.

The waiver motion was introduced by the presiding senator, who explained for the record that the bill had been passed by the House and referred to the Senate that morning. "Normally, we would not be able to hear this bill until Saturday under the senate rule," the presiding senator said, noting that "Senate Rule 7 provides that in the case of emergency, a bill can be considered by senate committee with a 2 thirds vote of the committee." The chair added that it would take six votes to pass the waiver motion; the committee voted in favor and the motion passed.

Recognized to explain the bill, another senator said the Senate was considering a companion measure to the House bill and that the committee should be aware there were no substantive changes from the version heard previously. "Members of the same bill that we heard yesterday, there have been no changes or alterations, just a swap in sponsors and origination on the chamber," the senator said, and invited questions. Committee members raised none and the sponsor closed discussion.

Following that exchange the chair called for a motion to pass the bill. After a voice vote in which members responded "aye," the chair declared, "You've passed your bill." The committee adjourned with no additional items on the agenda.

The committee's action was procedural: it waived the usual intervening-day rule to hear and pass a bill on the same day it arrived from the House. The transcript does not record individual roll-call vote counts or the names of members who voted; the committee's approvals are recorded as voice votes in the public record.

Next steps for the bill — for example, scheduling on the Senate floor or referral to another committee — were not discussed in the recorded proceedings.