Before we begin floor debate on legislation, I want to announce how I will be handling certain procedural motions under our current rules.

With respect to cloture motions on bills and resolutions, I intend to continue to have one general guideline for traditional governmental policy legislation and a second guideline, as I did in 2024, for legislation which is controversial and emotionally charged. One of the distinctions I make between the two types of legislation is whether or not the extended debate time could lead to a better understanding of the bill and at times, compromise, or will just fan the fires of contention and provide no value to the debate. Many times, but not exclusively, these bills require a simple “for or against” position for members.

If I determine a bill does fall into this category, I intend to follow a shorter time threshold for purposes of cloture. Prior to debate on legislation which falls within this category, I will provide the body with notice of the shorter debate time threshold for when a motion for cloture will be in order.

For traditional governmental policy legislation, I intend to follow a “full and fair debate” guideline that a cloture motion is in order after 8 hours of debate on general file, 4 hours of debate on select file, and 2 hours of debate on final reading unless I discern that full and fair debate has occurred sooner, in which case I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than the 8-4-2-time thresholds. I will make that determination in consultation with the principal introducer and members of the Legislature in opposition to the bill based on the quality of the debate and the number of members participating in the debate.

For controversial and emotionally charged legislation, I intend to follow a “full and fair debate” guideline that a cloture motion is in order after 4 hours of debate on general file, 2 hours of debate on select file, and 1 hour of debate on final reading unless I discern that full and fair debate has occurred sooner, in which case I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than the 4-2-1-time thresholds. I will make that determination in consultation with the principal introducer and members of the Legislature in opposition to the bill based on the quality of the debate and the number of members participating in the debate.

The “full and fair debate” guideline for appropriation bills accompanying substantive bills (“A” bills) will be 30 minutes of debate at each stage of consideration unless in my estimation additional time is needed to debate a substantive issue with the “A” bill, in which case the time for “full and fair debate” will be 1 hour. Conversely, if I discern that “full and fair debate” has occurred sooner than 30 minutes on “A” bills, I will entertain a motion for cloture earlier than 30 minutes of debate completion.

Please note, at this time I do not intend to deviate from the 8-4-2-hour threshold for most legislation (and the 4-2-1 threshold for the select few bills I identify prior to general file debate) or the “A” bill 30 minute/1 hour threshold in determining “full and fair debate” for purposes of cloture. This announced determination of “full and fair debate” by following these respective time thresholds will be my default decision, I hope, for the entire session. However, I have provided myself flexibility with respect to determining “full and fair debate” for invoking a cloture motion, if necessary.

If a motion to invoke cloture on legislation fails, I will consider the bill finished for the year, unless the bill is not a 2025 priority bill and is subsequently designated as such.

With respect to the Legislature’s adoption of the rule change last year to Rule 7, Sec. 10 allowing the cloture motion to apply to committee reports, non-CA resolutions, procedural motions, and other items of business (other than the adoption of rules), I intend to allow a cloture motion only if debate on such matters becomes exceedingly obstructive. I will provide the body with notice if such an occasion occurs.

As for other procedural practices, I intend to continue, in general, the practice of our recent speakers not to reschedule any bill that fails to advance from general file or from select file, unless the bill is subsequently designated as a priority bill.

This same general rule of not rescheduling a bill will apply to any bill successfully bracketed during debate (to a date certain or without a specified date) and any bill for which the principal introducer chooses to lay the bill over following the filing of a motion to indefinitely postpone pursuant to Rule 7, Section 3(a) and Section 6. In other words, if a principal introducer chooses to lay over their bill in the midst of debate due to the filing of a motion to indefinitely postpone the bill, I will not reschedule the bill on the agenda without subsequent designation of the bill as a priority bill. A bracketed bill may also be rescheduled if subsequently designated as a priority bill.

January 10
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 11:30 a.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 13
• Convene at 1:00 p.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 2:15 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 14
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 11:30 a.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 15
• Convene at 9:45 a.m.
• Governor Jim Pillen’s State of the State Address—10:00 a.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 12:00 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 16
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 11:30 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office
• (Tentative) Last day to submit bill requests to Revisor of Statutes/Bill Drafting Office (by noon)

January 17
• Convene at 11:00 a.m.
• Bill Introduction
• Adjourn around 12:15 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 21
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Bill introduction
• Adjourn around 11:30 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office

January 22
• Convene at 9:00 a.m.
• Last day of bill introduction
• Begin debate of permanent rules
• Adjourn around 12:00 p.m. or when introduced bills have been processed by the Clerk’s office
• Public hearings begin at 1:30 p.m.

January 23, 24
• Convene at 9:00 a.m.
• Continue debate of permanent rules, unless adopted earlier
• Public hearings at 1:30 p.m.

January 27
• Convene at 1:00 p.m.
• Check-in Day
• Adjourn by 1:15 p.m.
• Public hearings at 1:30 p.m.

January 28
• Convene at 10:00 a.m.
• Chief Justice Funke’s State of the Judiciary Address—10:15 a.m.
• Adjourn following address
• Public hearings at 1:30 p.m.

January 29
• Convene at 9:00 a.m.
• Begin debate of legislation
• Adjourn around noon
• Public hearings at 1:30

March 13, Prior to Adjournment
• Last day to submit a letter to the Speaker requesting the designation of a bill as a 2025 speaker priority bill

March 14, Prior to Adjournment
• Deadline for designation of committee and senator priority bills

March 17, Prior to Adjournment
• Speaker will announce 2025 speaker priority bills

March 28
• Date to complete public hearings on introduced bills

March 31
• Full Day floor debate begins

April 22-May 29
• Senators are requested to keep their session day evenings open beginning April 22 and throughout the remainder of the session for extended floor debate.

Please note that until full day floor debate begins, we will convene the first day of the work week at 10:00 a.m. (unless otherwise announced) and we will convene at 9:00 a.m. on the other days of the week.

If bad weather necessitates a time change, members of the Legislature will be notified and the change will be announced via the Legislature’s website.