There's a hold on a whole lot of legislation

The first session of every Legislature leaves measures in limbo, with the expectation that they will be acted on in the second session. Such delay is not without peril, because it means final action, if any, will occur in an election year. Here, somewhat at random, are some bills and resolutions not yet law from the 143rd General Assembly:

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•Judicial discretion:

Although more than half the legislators co-sponsored H.B. 181, it never made it out of a House committee. The bill would rescind mandatory minimum sentences for drug violations and return discretion to the judiciary "to pronounce sentences appropriate to the cases and individuals before them." Passage could help reduce growth in the state's prison population. Drug dealers would go to jail; drug users could get treatment.

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