You got the light, count it all joy / You got the right to be mad / But when you carry it alone you find it only getting in the way. Solange, “Mad”
Last week was an exciting week. If you didn’t at least lurk, we hosted our first TweetUp/Twitter Chat. We had conversation with new and existing followers In fact, we trended in our Twitter chat timeslot and we have a few tweeps (isn’t that the lingo?) we want to thank for their deep engagement, questions, answers and retweets from last Monday night: @FendiMandela, @kimrobin73,
@Naturally_Cole, @onewomanswork, @PerditaPatrice, @PnyPhx, @reaganworks, @skippcoon, @whenshen, @WillieOsi, @wr1tergirl and @Zjlord
Continue to follow us on Twitter @luvblkgirls for the latest updates on all things Black girls and use the hashtag #BlkGrlLeg.
Thank goodness we scheduled the TweetUp at the beginning of the week because the rest of the week Under the Dome was wild! Here is a bulleted list of the moments in the session I warned you about, when beautiful (well at least their authors thought so), well-crafted pieces of legislation that were expected to pass with little to no fuss turn into zombies. As amended, though, they are expected to terrorize neighborhoods, nice communities and confuse unwitting constituents who don’t follow legislative happenings from the Senate or House gallery.
Gone, Baby, Gone
Good riddance! And if they aren’t gone, it’s time to kill them.
HB 1083 – Firearms, authorize those with enhanced carry to bring onto public property. This includes our already underpaid, overpaid teachers.
HB 957 – The controversial bill that sought to rewrite the funding formula is dead! Many thanks to Sen. Hob Bryan for recommitting the bill to committee. This move was genius and signaled the death of a bill that was so confusing that House Education Chair Mark Baker couldn’t explain much of what the bill would do or how it would be funded.
HB 1241 – This bill would have required equal pay for equal work for all employees. This bill was amended to take away the authority of local municipalities to determine mandatory minimums for salary, vacation and sick time, whether paid or unpaid.
Other bills that don’t deserve a place on the general calendar!
HB 1510 – You know, the bill that doesn’t allow women to have a right to an abortion after 15 weeks was passed and has now been placed on the general calendar to be taken up for a full Senate vote. We’ll be calling our senators and telling them to vote “no”! If you agree, do the same.
BREAKING NEWS! You should be in the know!
What’s Next? Deadlines galore, that’s what! We are in crunch time. It’s time to pay close attention to everything happening. If you’re on Twitter, follow the #msleg hashtag for legislative play-by-play and share with your momma and ‘nem! There are, of course, more deadlines, so we wait. We watch. We act. Follow us on Twitter @luvblkgrls
Day 65 Wed., March 7 – Deadline for original floor action on general bills and constitutional amendments originating in other House.*
Day 66 Thurs., March 8 – Deadline for reconsideration and passage of general bills and constitutional amendments originating in other House.*
Day 67 Fri., March 9 – Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider general bills and constitutional amendments originating in other House.*
Day 71 Tues., March 13 – Deadline for original floor action on appropriations and revenue bills originating in other House.
Day 72 Wed., March 14 – Deadline for reconsideration/passage of appropriations and revenue bills originating in other House.
Day 73 Thurs., March 15 – Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider appropriations and revenue bills originating in other House.
Day 74 Fri., March 16 – Deadline to concur or not concur in amendments from other House to appropriations and revenue bills, and for introduction of local and private bills that are revenue bills.
Day 77 Mon., March 19 – Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider concurrence or non-concurrence in appropriations and revenue bills.
Day 80 Thurs., March 22 – Deadline to concur or not concur in amendments from other house to general bills and constitutional amendments.
Day 81 Fri., March 23 – Deadline for introduction of local and private bills that are not revenue bills.
Day 82 Sat., March 24 – Deadline for conference reports on appropriations and revenue bills to be filed.**+
Day 84 Mon., March 26 – Deadline for final adoption of conference reports on appropriations and revenue bills**+, and for conference reports on general bills and constitutional amendments to be filed.**+
Day 85 Tues., March 27 – Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider conference reports on appropriations and revenue bills.
Day 86 Wed., March 28 – Deadline for first consideration of conference reports on general bills and constitutional amendments.
Day 87 Thurs., March 29 – Deadline for filing conference reports on general bills and constitutional amendments that had been recommitted for further conference.+
Day 88 Fri., March 30 – Deadline for adoption of conference reports on general bills and constitutional amendments after re-committal.
Day 89 Sat., Mar. 31 – Deadline to dispose of motions to reconsider conference reports on general bills and constitutional amendments.
Day 90 Sun., April 1 – SINE DIE: End of the 2018 Regular Legislative Session
Until soon …