* House Speaker Chris Welch speaking before adjournment…

Thank you, Madam Speaker, members of the House. No matter what the other chamber says, no one’s ever said the House is boring. The House is definitely not boring.

I wanted to come out to the floor tonight to first thank everyone for sticking through these final days of the legislative session, and particularly sticking through this very long day. I cannot let us adjourn without thanking our staff who made this whole operation run. Can we please give our staff a round of applause, please?

And that was meant for the staff on both sides, you know, Democratic side, the Republican side. We may disagree at times. We’re going to represent our districts to the fullest, but all of us here are nothing without the fabulous staff that we have. I think both Chiefs of Staff deserve a round of applause. Tiffany and Andrew, thank you.

I also want to thank two people that are new to their positions, and that’s on the Democratic side. Our new chief legal counsel, Kendra Piercy, who knows her stuff, and she had that on display tonight in our new research and appropriations director. Without the two of them, we don’t make it through tonight. So please, let’s give them a round of applause.

I had different remarks prepared for tonight, but the hour is late. Everyone’s tired. You want to go home. And because you stayed and put in the work, we’re done. We can go home. We can enjoy the summer and the fall. We can spend time on our families. We can get some rest before we come back here, to continue the peoples’ business. Thank you all. Go home, get some rest, travel safely.