The 2017-2018 Legislative Session officially began on Wednesday, January 11, with the first day the chambers held session.  Since then, a lot has happened around the Capitol. 

The House of Representatives has been busy, especially since many representatives were new to the legislature and both parties are led by new leadership teams.  While the Speaker of the House and the Democratic Leader were elected and announced last November, many of the remaining leadership positions weren’t selected and announced until January.  Additionally, in January, House committee members were named. 

On the legislative front, the Republican caucus has announced a proposal to reduce the income tax, open the executive branch to FOIA requests and create a similar act for the legislature, and they released their action plan.  In addition to playing defense on the Republican policies, the House Democratic caucus has put out several of their own proposals; including, reforming the Unemployment Insurance Agency, increasing financial disclosure requirements for candidates and creating a graduated income tax.  The House has introduced 472 bills, 5 concurrent resolutions, and 59 resolutions.  Lastly, one state representative has resigned from office, leaving the number of members elected and serving at 109.

While the Senate didn’t face any turnovers due to elections nor were there changes in caucus leadership, they also had to start fresh with legislative initiatives.  The Senate Majority Leader introduced a bill repealing the prevailing wage, a plan similar to the House’s was introduced expanding FOIA and creating a similar act for the legislature,  a twenty-bill package reforming the criminal justice system was approved, and a package was introduced mandating paid sick leave.  The Senate has introduced 297 bills, 15 concurrent resolutions, and 41 resolutions. 

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