I want to express my sincere thanks to all who contacted me to support HB 201, our bill to create commemorative plates for officers that have fallen in the line of duty. Many of you reading this article have stepped up and taken the time to express your support, and I really appreciate it.
Now that we have over 100(!!!) engaged citizens who have sent in their support, I wanted to share the plan going forward, and how we will continue to work with you to obtain action on this very good cause. Some of the steps have already been completed, some are in-process, some are yet to be initiated. I’ll continue to share progress on the website and through my e-mail list.
Step 1: We have a bill! HB 201 was read across the House floor and referred to two committees during the 2021 legislative session. At this point it has not been heard in the State Affairs (STA) committee which is its first committee of referral.
Step 2: Once the House gavels in for the next regular session on January 18th, we will seek to get the bill an initial introductory hearing in STA at the first opportunity in the 2022 regular session in January. That’s where your notes of support come in, as we will present your correspondence to let the committee know that there is solid community support for this bill. We will be communicating with you regularly along the way on what we are doing, any progress that we make, and any need for support as we try to get the bill heard.
Step 3: Get the bill heard in 1 or 2 more times in STA as may be required to move the bill out of STA and into the house Finance committee (FIN). This is the stage where public testimony will really make an impact, and we will most certainly be in touch on a regular basis.
Step 4: Get the bill through the House FIN committee, which because of its small fiscal impact should not be difficult, but the budget is always the first order of business, so we will have to wait in line so to speak. If there are any amendments or additional documents along the process we’ll notify everybody and post make sure those are posted to the website: akrepkaufman.com/remember-the-fallen/
Step 5: Bring the bill to the House floor for a vote. Once again, we will be asking for your help when we get to this stage.
Step 6: Assuming that our hard work pays off, and we can dodge the rocks along the way, I am hopeful that we can get HB 201 passed in the House, we will then work with our partners in the Senate to obtain passage from the legislature and get it sent to the Governor for his signature.
Once again, thanks to all that have signed on to support this effort! We will continue to work together as a team, but most importantly let’s keep working to build and add strength to our army of support. Right now, with the first wave of supporters we are sitting at well over 100 which is great. If we keep up the networking effort, we will really have the support and communications that it will take to get this bill passed in 2022.
Thank you for supporting our officers.
Regards, JK
