Every organization has its jargon. Bruce Maples, who publishes Forward Kentucky, posted this primer on legislaturese today.
Good morning! Today, I'm going to do a brief explainer about the legislative schedule. If you know all of this, you can just skip to the Five Things section.
The Kentucky General Assembly meets every year, with even-numbered years getting sixty legislative days (days when the chambers meet in session), and odd-numbered years getting thirty legislative days. By law, they have a deadline for when they have to be finished, with this year's deadline being March 30. At the end of that day, they will adjourn sine die, which means "without a day" – in other words, they are finished for that year.
If they pass a bill and the governor vetoes it, they can override that veto the next time they are in session. However, if they pass a bill and then adjourn sine die, the governor can veto the bill and they have no chance to override the veto.
So, the legislature likes to give itself two days right before sine die to override vetoes on what it has already passed. In order to hold onto those two days, they have to wrap up their work by midnight of the 28th day of the short session. After the 28th day, they go into "veto days," where the governor can veto bills and they can come back to do any overrides.
That is where we are now. Last night was the end of the 28th day, with the chambers working right up until midnight, trying to finish passing bills. They did pass a bunch, but then they ran out of time to do any more.
And what happens to those bills that may have passed one chamber, and even passed a committee in the second chamber, but didn't pass both chambers before veto days? They are dead for another year, unless leadership decides to vote on them during the two veto override days. But remember, if they do that, the governor can override those vetoes once they wrap up.
So, everyone take a breath, and watch to see what vetoes happen in the next ten days. Also, watch for more news about the budget. The transportation budget didn't even get approved, and there are indications that the governor and the legislature are still talking about changes to the general fund budget.
There you go. You are now a legislative calendar expert. And, you have a new term you can impress your friends with: sine die.
Bruce Maples, publisher
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