Open Conference Committee Bill Clears House

And according to Kate, there was no debate, no negative votes. It goes now to the Senate, where some long knives wait.

Just a few months ago, I made a bold prediction that this would be the year the open conference committee bill finally would clear the Legislature. In recent weeks, I've lost that optimism.

We'll see sometime in the next 19 days. Maybe I'm wrong. I still get surprised a lot here.