The House Agriculture Committee hearing

H.F. 253 was heard by the House Agriculture Committee on Friday, March 27. After testimony and debate, the bill was “laid on the table,” which means the bill did not receive a vote.

Since all bills must pass through all policy committees in one body (House or Senate) by the first committee deadline of March 27, this means H.F. 253/S.F. 7 will not move ahead in the legislative process this year.

However, because both H.F. 253 and S.F. 7 were laid on the table, these bills can be brought up again in 2010 for discussion and a vote. They are each sitting in the respective House Agriculture Committee and Senate Agriculture Committee.

NOTE: “Laid on the table” is a process to temporarily set aside a bill for possible further discussion and vote at a later time. Once a bill is “laid on the table”, it requires a majority vote to get it off the table. It was apparent H.F. 253 did not have enough votes for it to pass out of the House Agriculture Committee so having it laid on the table kept it alive – even though it needs a majority vote to call it back. The good news is, as indicated above, the bill is still alive. And, next year it will not have to start all over again in the other committees – it can pick up where it left off in the process.

Thank you for all of your help!

Your calls, petitions, emails, direct contacts with legislators, and willingness to talk with others and spread the word was extremely influential. Legislators heard from hundreds of Minnesotans who want these bills passed.