Legislative Day 28 came to an end – finally – late Friday afternoon in Pierre. The final gavel of the day fell in the House just after 5:30 p.m. CST before a small quorum of lawmakers.
The full House stood in recess most of Friday afternoon while two committees, House Judiciary and House State Affairs, worked to clear bills ahead of a deadline known as ‘committee cross over.’
Any bill left unapproved by committee at the end of the day would be declared lost, and several important bills were still pending in the House late Friday afternoon.
A bill to allow Judges to transfer certain juveniles into the custody of the State DOC was approved in the House Judiciary Committee while a bill to reformulate the state sales tax rate was approved in House State Affairs.
The last two committee reports were delivered to the House floor before a small, bipartisan quorum of lawmakers. The bulk of the members had left earlier in the day attempting to make it home for the weekend ahead of a major winter storm moving across the state. Members of the State Senate had adjourned hours earlier, their work complete.
The House accepted the final two committee reports before making a motion to adjourn. As Speaker Haugaard brought the gavel down on Legislative Day 28, one lawmaker could be heard to say, “finally.”
