Projo Politics Blog

The end is in sight.

The General Assembly typically recesses each session before July 4 –– and has been known to leave even earlier in election years, such as this one.

That means the next five weeks will be busy. Lawmakers will pass dozens of new laws, including an unpopular state budget to close a projected shortfall of $425 million in the next fiscal year.

House Speaker William J. Murphy suggested a general timeline for the session’s final weeks to colleagues last week, a schedule that he would not confirm to Political Scene but has been a topic of numerous hallway conversations.

The House leadership would like to have the state budget voted out by the chamber’s Finance Committee by Thursday of next week and passed by the full House on June 12. That would give lawmakers another week to focus on other legislation, allowing them to recess by June 20.

There are a host of deadlines for candidates participating in the November elections –– the vast majority of the Assembly –– in late June and early July. Candidates must declare candidacy between June 23 and 25. Nomination papers must be obtained July 1 and be returned, with signatures, on July 11.

Officially, Murphy through his spokesman Larry Berman, would not repeat the schedule given to legislators. “When we pass the budget and when we pass the legislation, that’s when we’ll recess,” Berman said.

It’s worth noting that the Assembly leadership around this time of year generally releases timelines that often aren’t met.

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