The eighth week of the 2012 supplemental session comes on the heels of a long week of policy committee meetings.

February 24 marked the final deadline for policy bills to move forward in the budget. Bills, unless necessary to implement the budget, must have moved from the policy committees to the floor or a fiscal committee. 

Following this deadline, the fiscal committees in both the House and Senate kicked-off their work. The House and Senate Ways & Means Committees held long hearings and executive sessions on Friday and worked through the weekend to meet the next deadline in the process.

The House and Senate have until end of day on Monday, February 27, the first day of Week 8, to move bills from a fiscal committee to the Senate or House floor. Both chambers will then have until Friday, March 2 to pass bills not necessary to implement the budget.

So the committees to watch this week are the fiscal committees in the House and Senate. The appropriations committees (i.e. Senate Ways & Means ,  House Ways & Means, House Education Appropriations) will take up the policy bills referred to committee in order to determine what bills will move forward to the floor by the next deadline as well as take action on the supplemental operating and capital budgets.