Ok, here is what happened, guys...
Don't panic. HB 475 did pass, but with the knowledge that it is broken. They had an amendment for it this morning, written by Rep. Mills, that would have suited us. However, when Il Duce caught wind of that, she pulled the bill into a committee called "rules" so that she could have it amended back to the way she wanted it. I don't know which HB 475 they passed, the one with all of the good amendments or the one she wanted.
Either way, it does not matter. It gets to cross over to the Senate, where we have TONS of champions on our side. What will happen now is it will go to the Senate and they will add amendments to it that are good for us again. It gives the Senate something to work with, and they are on our side. Most of the Representatives did not want to vote for it, until it was explained that it would actually help us if it crossed over to the Senate. The Senate will, hopefully, basically get it as close to SB 49 as possible, and it will be out of Il Duce's hands at that point, she won't be able to do anything about it. They will then vote on it, pass it, then it will go to the Governor, and he will pass it.
And all will be right with the world.
Believe me, they are working this thing as hard as they can. I saw it for myself. Il Duce is notorious for playing dirty pool. But she isn't the only one who knows how to play hard ball.
As far as SB 49 goes, if she has a bill that is more important to her than that one and needs help, then there would be some horse-trading, so to speak (I scratch your back, you scratch mine), for SB 49 to come out of her committee. And, the reason why she got that bill to her committee in the first place is the person who makes the committee assignments is aligned with her.
That is what happened today. I am sending this to you via PM because I do not want Cooper to know we know her game. Let's keep it on the down-low, ok?
