i Everyone,

Legislative Update Week of May 16th

2010 Legislative Session

This week was the last week for both the Senate and House to form committees of conference. A committee of conference is formed when one of the bodies has amended a bill and the original body does not want to kill the bill or pass it but rather work toward a compromise. You may have read in the media the interesting way in which the committees of conference on the budget were agreed to by the House and Senate.

The budget is still mostly unsettled because the House and Senate seem to have very different versions of how they would like to make up the revenue shortfall the state is facing. Gambling is still alive, as are some devastating cuts and new taxes. We will keep you updated as we know more.

Most importantly this week, the House decided to request a committee of conference on HB 1393, which is the bill that the Senate attached an amendment to that would place further regulation on 5-b risk pools (LGC, PRIMEX, SchoolCare). There was a ³public information session² held this morning in Concord where the State Senate sponsors and the Secretary of State spelled out why this regulation is so important. The LGC of course opposed the regulation promising to be a newer, more transparent version of their former selves. The official committee of conference will meet in the middle of next week.

A committee of conference was also requested on SB 428, which will create a legislative study committee to examine the dispatch times of the 911 system.

The House¹s position narrowed the scope of the study commission and the Senate was opposed to the change. The committee will meet next Monday to reach an agreement on language.

There is still much to be determined in this legislative session and we¹ll continue to keep you updated. One thing that is for sure though is that we need more people to sign up to RUN FOR STATE REP. We may escape this session with no damage to your pensions but next year is a completely different ball game. The only way to make sure your pension is protected is to run for state rep yourself!

Please don¹t hesitate to contact me with questions, concerns or to sign up to save your pension!

Esther

HB 1393:

HB 428:

Budget bills:

SB 450:

HB 1128: