17th Week of the Session. As of Tuesday morning, 1,697 bills have been introduced and 1,023 have been moved to the opposite chamber. As of today, we are on Legislative Day 83 out of a total possible of 90. On Monday, we voted to extend the transmittal deadline for appropriations and revenue bill amendments by two days to this Friday. That extension gives us time to process the remaining bills and complete the work necessary to fund the State over the next two years.

As many of you have seen in the news, the Monday floor session of the House was disrupted by a group protesting the Speaker of the House’s decision to deny floor debate privileges to Representative Zooey Zephyr for breaking the House rules of decorum. The Speaker made that decision based on her refusal to apologize for her comments on Senate Bill (SB) 99 (Provide for a Youth Health Protection Act). This bill makes it illegal to perform gender transition surgery or use puberty blocking drugs on anyone under the age of 18. As the House debated proposed amendments to the bill, Representative Zephyr said, “If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments, I hope the next time there is an invocation, when you bow your head in prayer, you see the blood on your hands”.