At the end of February the House of Representatives passed a ballot referral, HCR2060, dealing with verifying a worker's immigration status before being hired. No action was taken in the senate.
Suddenly it now appears on a senate committee agenda for Wednesday May 8th when it is expected a "striker amendment" will be added. The "striker" is expected to resurrect SB1231 which the governor has already vetoed. The plan is to turn the vetoed bill into a referral the governor cannot veto. HCR2060 would let local police arrest migrants crossing the border. Since immigration is a federal issue, the referral has constitutional problems but could still end up on our ballots.
The idea of publishing voters' ballot images raised its head in 2022. Although it was proposed by the best election conspiracy theorists money could buy, the bill allowing access to images was voted down in 2022 then vetoed in 2023. This year Sen. Ken Bennet is determined to make it a reality. His bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House. He is now trying to work it into the budget negotiation.
The senate saw the writing on the wall last Wednesday when 2 republicans were expected to vote with democrats on the 1864 abortion law repeal. Since it is not usual for the majority party to experience a defection on major issues, their response can be unpredictable. Last Wednesday they chose to talk, and talk and talk. The senate has no time limit when explaining a vote. Three hours were spent mourning the repeal as the vote was taken and republican members explained why they were voting NO. The two republicans voting with democrats helped pass the repeal.
The Senate returns to the capitol on Wednesday May 8th for one day. The House is taking two weeks off and returns May 15th.