GOP leaders say juvenile rehabilitation and child-endangerment measures stalled as session winds down

Sen. John Braun and Rep. April Connors told reporters that bills aimed at child endangerment reporting and juvenile rehabilitation reforms failed to advance before cutoff.

Braun said an endangerment bill that passed the Senate on a bipartisan vote was blocked in the House and that other similar bills by lawmakers such as Rep. Travis Couture were also defeated. "The bills that didn't move forward... the endangerment bill that I had that made it out on a pretty bipartisan vote of the Senate was killed once again by representative Goodman in the house," Braun said.

Connors and Braun also criticized the majority for tying juvenile rehabilitation reforms to broader, more controversial policy matters, which they said prevented passage of more targeted reforms. Braun specifically referenced ongoing issues at the Green Hill juvenile facility and said the majority refused to give agencies tools to maintain safe population levels.

When asked about lawmakers who became emotional during an operating-budget debate and the social-media response, Carlene of The Center Square described tweets she characterized as mocking emotional lawmakers. Rep. Peter Abarno called those social-media comments 'unfortunate' and said the member accused of tweeting should answer for herself.

No formal procedural outcome was reached during the briefing; GOP leaders framed the failures as part of what they said will be pressing conversations with the governor and within the final negotiations of the session.