Legislative Update

The 30-day Legislative Session ended at noon on Thursday, February 20. A total of 914 bills were introduced with only a few passing both houses and sent to the Governor. Three have been signed into law and she will have until March 11 to sign, veto or, if she takes no action, pocket veto the remaining bills. Passing a state budget was job number one for lawmakers. In the closing hours, the $7.6 billion budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2020, was approved. It represents a 7.5 percent increase over the current fiscal year and includes raises for teachers and state employees. The budget in HB2 can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/rw9brqa. Lawmakers also approved a $520 million capital outlay bill that includes projects throughout the state. A complete list of project by county can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/sco79dh.