Video poker bill sent to Rules
Update: Ha, ha, stupid me. There I go listening to presiding officers and committee chairmen again.
H 1537, Jones' video poker bill, didn't get assigned to Rules. Sure, that's where Speaker Pro Tempore Wainwright, who was running the House session today, referred it on the floor. And yes, Rules Chairman Bill Owens, said his committee had the bill and wanted to hold onto it for a while.
But no.
It was sent to J II and then on to Finance.
So, ignore the rest of this post, except as a monument to my overly trusting nature.
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Rep. Earl Jones' effort to legalize video poker just hit a very telling speed bump.
The measure was referred to the Committee on Rules, Calendar and Operations of the House.
In general, this committee handles four sorts of things:
- * Bills governing - shock - rules of the House and how the chamber operates.
- * Ceremonial bills that have very little controversy attached. Resolutions honoring a town's 100th anniversary or naming official state festivals.
- * Very controversial bills that leaders want heard by a committee that won't get out of hand.
- * Bills that are never to be heard from again or need to be held back from formal consideration for a long while.
As noted earlier, the current House leadership hasn't been in the habit of just sticking something in one committee and parking it there. Rather, they've taken the approach of giving unwanted legislation so many serial referrals that even the most popular bill would have a problem clearing the hurdles.
I've seen a few bills this year withdrawn from Rules and assigned to committees after they've sat and marinated a while. But my guess is given the unfavorable reaction this bill got from leadership before it was even filed, they parking brake has been set on this one.
Update: I spoke to Rep. Bill Owens, the Rules Committee chairman, about this bill.
"We want to know a little more about it before we let it out," Owens said.
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