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The Senate has voted unanimously to pass SB 1246, a bill necessitated solely by how long Idaho’s legislative session has run this year. “This bill, as long as I’ve been in the Senate, has only had to be brought one other time,” Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls, told the Senate. That was in 2003. The problem: The state Constitution says law can’t take effect until 60 days from the end of the session, unless they have emergency clauses. Most bills without emergency clauses take effect July 1. But, Davis said, “That means the session has to end on May the 2nd - we’re past May the 2nd.” So SB 1246 “basically goes in and amends every bill and every title … so they can still go into effect on July 1st … unless they provide for an alternative date.” The bill passed unanimously and now goes to the House.
Incidentally, though this year’s session hasn’t busted the record for the longest-ever legislative session, which was set in 2003 at 118 days, it has set a new record for how far it’s going on into the spring. That’s because of a quirk of the calendar that saw this year’s session start a bit later. The 2003 session ended on May 3. Today, on the 116th day of this year’s session, it’s May 7.
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