House Adopts Conference Report on S.309 and Concurred on Multiple Senate Bills

The House adopted the conference committee report on Senate Bill 309, which makes miscellaneous changes related to the Department of Motor Vehicles, motor vehicles and vessels, after the Transportation Committee conferees reported limited disagreements primarily involving language in sections concerning tinted windows and roadway use of vulnerable users.

Earlier the House moved to suspend its rules to take up S.309 off the notice calendar for immediate consideration; that motion carried and the House subsequently adopted the committee of conference report. Members then suspended rules to message the House's action on S.309 to the Senate forthwith.

Separately, the House voted in concurrence on several other Senate bills on the morning calendar: S.159 (County and Regional Governance Study Committee), S.183 (reenvisioning the Agency of Human Services), S.253 (building energy codes), S.302 (public health outreach re: dementia risk), and S.305 (miscellaneous Public Utility Commission changes). S.253 drew floor questioning from a Member who asked whether stakeholders and administrative bodies (LCAR, the Public Service Department) had been consulted and whether the bill's language would pause updates to the proposed building energy code; the bill sponsor said passage would effectively pause the updated code until compliance and authority matters are addressed.

What happens next: With the House adopting the conference report and concurring on listed bills, the measures move according to legislative process; S.309 will be messaged to the Senate forthwith as announced on the floor.