As Senate President Drue Pearce and House Speaker Brian Porter appointed members of a joint conference committee to work out a compromise on the spending measure, they triggered a procedural change known as the 24-hour rule. That means committees can hold hearings on legislation with only a day's notice instead of the five days required during the rest of the session. While that may seem a trivial difference, in reality it's a fast-forward button for the entire Legislature. Under normal procedures, a bill can take weeks to clear all the committees scheduled to hear it. But the 24-hour rule allows bills and resolutions to leap from committee to committee to a vote on the floor of the House or Senate in hours.
Key changes can be difficult to track in the rush.
Most of these bills that will move now are bills that have already been heard, that have already had public testimony. But minority Democrats worry the GOP majority will try to push through legislation without adequately considering its policy implications. The rule is designed to speed the Legislature's adjournment, a complex deal that involves dozens of bills late in the session. Some of those measures are priorities of the GOP majority. Others are pet projects of individual lawmakers.