Murphy’s Law Blog | #5
Bills Still Pouring In

Today, Rep. Thomas presented HB 1147. It asks for $100 million/year for the next 10 years for county and township bridges. The Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute states that we need about $95 million a year for the next 20 years to get our bridges up to snuff.

Earlier, I brought support for Senator Wanzek’s bill which would allow monies to counties and townships for snow removal if they have received more than 200% of snow as measured by the last five-year totals. That bill number is SB 2183 as heard by Senate Appropriations. As supporters lined up to encourage passage, the Chair came to me and said that they would not be taking public testimony today. Instead, they will bring the bill from the whole committee into a deeper dive into one of the three divisions which they will break into later. I guess that is part of the learning curve which comes with the new system as the Senate copies the House Approps model for the first time. Up to almost 800 bills now, we can still expect 400 to 600 more in the next week.