ext year the General Assembly will pass hundreds of bills. Some of them will be meaningful and others will rename park benches. Despite sessions running for over six months, hundreds of bills will be rushed through in the final hours of the legislature. This has to change. 

This happens because the Speaker refuses to bring most bills up for a vote until after the budget is passed. They threaten legislators with killing their bills if they push to change the budget. It’s blackmail, plain and simple. Even worse, they often rush out dozens of changes just before votes are about to begin without even notifying the public. Often abuses and blatant giveaways won’t be discovered for weeks. 

A bill should pass or fail on its merits, and our legislature can’t afford to waste half of a year. Any changes to legislation must be made available to the public at least 48 hours in advance so citizens, reporters and representatives themselves can actually review laws before they are passed. 

Laufton Ascencao

Bristol

Mr. Ascencao is a Democrat running for House District 68.