Rules Committee refers House Bill 521 to standing rules in unanimous vote

Senator Albers moved on Feb. 17 that the Rules Committee take House Bill 521 from the calendar committee and refer it to standing rules; the majority leader seconded the motion and the committee voted unanimously to approve the referral.

The motion was made during the committee’s opening consideration of the calendar. Senator Albers framed the procedural move as necessary to move the bill into the Rules Committee’s workload for further consideration. Following the successful vote, the chair said the committee would proceed to the consideration calendar to review additional bills.

The referral is procedural and does not yet indicate final action on the underlying merits of House Bill 521. With the committee keeping the calendar later in the meeting, members emphasized the goal of moving department and agency bills forward to their respective committees for fuller vetting.

The committee then voted unanimously to keep the calendar in place and adjourned, directing members to move on to their assigned committees.