Legislative Scorecard: 2017

The 2017 Legislative Session was an interesting one. Hundreds of bills were introduced and passed by both the House and Senate – some good, such as automatic voter registration, protection for student journalists, and child support relief for incarcerated parents, and some not so great, such as police access to the a state Department of Health prescription drug database. However, on what would have been the last day of session at the end of June, the House abruptly recessed due to unforeseen issues passing the proposed budget in the Senate, leaving hundreds of bills in limbo. Then on September 19th, the General Assembly reconvened to finalize the pending legislation. This late session saw some good legislation pass, including a package of criminal justice reforms and open records legislation aimed at the 38 Studios debacle.