Issues and Initiatives

2019 Bill Movement

•       February 7: HB 43 was filed
•       February 11: Referred to the House Health Committee, if favorable, House Committee on Rules
•       February 12: SB 43 was filed (as a backup/to show support in both chambers)
•       March 5: HB 43 passed House Health
•       March 26: HB 43 passed House Rules
•       April 3: HB 43 unanimously passed the House chamber (111-0)
•       April 4: The Senate received HB 43, referred the bill to Senate Rules (where all House bills first go once passed the House and go to the Senate)

Current Status: Waiting to be referred out of Senate Rules and into Senate Health for a hearing in the Senate!

•       Why hasn’t the bill moved? No known opposition, just how the legislative process goes sometimes, a major game of “hurry up and wait.”
•       When will the bill pass the Senate? Hard to know. The Senate Health committee has not met much this session so far, and it has been awhile since they last met, so it may be later this year (if they never leave town), or it could be 2020.
•       How many bills are in Senate Rules, the landing place for all bills that pass the House? 532! So HB 43 is in good company right now.
•       What is the hold up? Right now, there is a pretty contentious debate going on between the legislature and the Governor over the state’s budget, which should have gone into effect on July 1, 2019. While the state just maintains the current spending levels, avoiding a government shutdown like we see on the federal level sometimes, it does leave many things in a holding pattern while things get worked out.
• Additionally, court-ordered redistricting, hurricane relief, and several other large issues have taken up plenty of time.
• Is HB 43 ever going to become law? That is the plan! We will need to do a bit of advocacy (writing to our legislators, etc.) this winter in order to keep the Senators reminded that this is an important bill!
•       Anything else? Our primary bill sponsor, Rep. Greg Murphy, a surgeon, won a special election to congress on September 10 and was officially sworn in on September 17. Dr. Murphy is taking the place of U.S. Congressman Walter Jones, who passed away in February.
• o   Thankfully, HB 43’s other two bill sponsors (Rep. Lambeth, also a bill sponsor in 2017 and Rep. Humphrey) + SB 43’s bill sponsors (Sen. Perry, Sen. Don Davis, Sen. Krawiec), are ready to step up to the plate to ensure the bill passes!