aturday, May 30, 2009, 06:18 PM

Postcards By MIke Ward - Austin American Statesman - Sat., May 30, 2009
Read more in the Austin American Statesman
Conferees to extend their work

By a unanimous vote, the Texas Senate just extended its deadline for the more than 180 conference committees to wrap up their work.

From tonight at midnight to tomorrow at midnight.

That means the Senate on Monday likely will be approving dozens of conference committee reports — the final versions of bills — where they were supposed to just do minor corrections to a few bills.

Senate Administration Committee Chairman Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, told senators a few minutes ago that 131 House bills loaded up with Senate amendments are still in conference — meaning they are still in negotiation with House members.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Williams said.

The vote to waive the rule and extend tonight;s deadline was 31-0. A four-fifths vote of at least 25 senators was required.

Earlier today, the Senate started appointing conference committees on at least 182 bills, not counting the four dozen or so that were already at work.

Lawmakers in both chambers have said the number of conference committees this session is unprecedented in recent memory, all because of a vote-stalling maneuver in the House last week over a voter identification bill. That delayed action on hundreds of bills, prompting the Senate to tack them on as amendments to House bills — a move that has created a procedural logjam in a session to ends at midnight Monday.

All day today, the Senate Chamber has been abuzz with negotiations and conference committee meetings between lawmakers, almost frantic in its pace, as lawmakers scramble to come up with final versions of bills by their deadlines.

No word yet on whether the House will extend its deadline at midnight tonight for filing the final versions of all bills.