Governor signs first new laws

Bills have fallen by the wayside at a steady pace throughout this year’s legislative session, but the first new laws have made it to the governor’s desk.

As a budget session, the focus on non-financial matters has been necessarily limited. The budget bills spent the beginning of the week the Joint Conference Committee, which was tasked with finding a way to reconcile a $1.1 billion gap between the proposals put forth by the House and Senate.

The two chambers went in different directions while examining the budget. While the House added additional funding to the tune of around $362 million, the...