A majority coalition of 11 Republicans and all 41 Democrats voted Tuesday to bring the bill to ratify the tribal water compact to the state House floor — but another round of procedural obstacles will delay a full House vote until at least Thursday.

The 52-48 vote to blast Senate Bill 262 from the Judiciary Committee, which Monday voted 11-10 to kill the bill, followed a rules committee meeting Tuesday morning to determine whether a blast motion was permissible.

The rules committee met for just six minutes before voting 10-6 to uphold Monday’s ruling by House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, that a 60-vote majority was needed to bring the controversial bill to the House floor. 

Rep. Mike Miller, R-Helmville, appeared to capture the mood of the committee, which held no debate on House Minority Leader Chuck Hunter’s motion to overrule Knudsen.

“We’ve been here before,” he said. “I don’t see any reason to have a long, drawn-out discussion when we know what the result is going to be.”

He was referring to the nearly identical process taken to bring a Medicaid expansion bill to the floor last week, when a slim bipartisan majority on the floor repeatedly overruled the speaker and Republican-dominated rules committee to pass the bill.

Today a similar outcome is anticipated, after another challenge by House Speaker Pro Tem Lee Randall, R-Broadus, which referred to language in the compact that he said would require a two-thirds vote by both chambers for the bill to pass. 

Knudsen ruled in his favor and Hunter once again objected, noting that Attorney General Tim Fox had already said the two-thirds rule did not apply.

The rules committee will vote on whether to uphold Knudsen’s ruling today at 10 a.m., and the same 10-6 vote and subsequent majority vote to overturn the committee is anticipated. If that ruling is overturned, the compact will head to the floor Thursday, barring any further challenges.

The question that remains is whether a simple majority on the floor will suffice to overturn this particular challenge.

Lindsey Singer, a communications aide for the House Republicans, acknowledged the vote would likely be up to a simple majority.

“The floor will likely overturn it with a simple majority,” she said in an email Tuesday. “The difference is that Rep. Randall’s motion will make it perfectly clear, and on the official committee record, that the vote count is disputed should there be any question about that in the future.”

Rep. Dan Salomon, R-Ronan, who has been a leading supporter of the compact, was more direct.

“Let’s put it this way: that was their last shot in the dark,” he said. “That was the Hail Mary from their 5-yard line. The attorney general has already said that’s bogus.”

Rep. Bruce Meyers of Box Elder was the lone Republican on the Judiciary Committee to join the Democrats in voting for the compact on Monday. After Tuesday’s floor session, he said he was confident the compact would ultimately pass.

“I think the majority of votes will bring it back to the floor,” he said. “I’m getting a lot of pressure to vote with the Republican side, but they’ve put this off too long. I think it’s going to pass.”

Rep. Zac Perry, D-Hungry Horse, acknowledged that the late stage of the session could enter into the compact opponents’ calculus.

“We’re kind of fighting time right now,” Perry said. “If we don’t get action in a certain amount of time, it’s done, and I guess I could see that being one of their strategies.”

However, he added that the maneuvering at least presented an interesting experience.

“It’s been a huge learning experience as a rookie legislator, navigating through the procedural motions and the process,” said Perry, who serves on the rules committee. “But it can also be frustrating at the same time. It pays to know the rules, I’ll say that.”

Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com