The 2014 Regular Session is coming to a close with the Governor's veto period wrapping up and only two days remaining for final legislative work. We will decide whether to concur or recede from bills that have gone through both chambers but changed along the way. We will pass a number of bills still waiting to be brought for a vote. If the Governor vetoes any legislation, or a line-item thereof, we will consider whether to override such a veto. With the largest hurdle, the budget, agreed upon by both chambers and already lying on the Governor's desk, I have hope that, for the first time in several years, there will be no need for a special session.
As Spring arrives I have begun looking at the interim period for topics that need to be explored by the Judiciary Committee. The interim period runs from June through November, and I have already started to plan alongside my Co-Chairman, John Tilley (the interim committees are joint, with members of both chambers' judiciary committees), the content and location of meetings.
A couple of possible ideas I'm kicking around...
- Dating Violence and protective orders
- Online/Social Media/"SAS" Privacy
- DNA Evidence upon felony arrest (see my 2013 SB47 and blog post)
- Patent Troll" Protections
- Fairness/Discrimination legislation (check out 2014's SB140 - I have some faith-related questions on this topic I'd like to explore)
- Death penalty costs; abolishment (tentative, since testimony on this has been heard recently)
- DUI penalty enhancements; updates (if any) on validation for the .05 BAL
- Update on the AOC (Administrative Office of the Courts) e-filing rollout
If you know of an issue that relates to the Judicial system that you'd like to have heard, let me or Rep. Tilley know. You can email me right here - those messages come straight to me!