The Orange County legislative delegation met Oct. 21 for a full-day session and took formal action on its internal rules and leadership, voting on several proposed amendments and electing delegation officers.

Key outcomes: The delegation elected State Senator LaVonne Bracy Davis as chair and Representative Rita Harris as secretary; following a rules technicality the vice-chair election was reopened and Representative Leonard Spencer was elected vice chair. Delegation members also considered several amendments to the rules of procedure proposed by Senator Jason Broder.

Votes and motions: Senator Broder proposed removing a rule that gave Orange County a 50% precinct threshold for certain leadership positions; that motion failed after roll-call (the record shows the measure did not obtain a majority). The delegation approved a series of technical edits and renumbering, and amended a clause to allow emergency public hearings to be authorized by a two-thirds affirmative vote that may be satisfied by electronic means.

A later motion authorized the delegation to host a virtual meeting with the Orange County Tax Collector to review property taxes and modeling for the 2026 session; that motion passed by roll call with unanimous support on the floor. Several roll-call counts were recorded in the transcript for each motion.

What members said: Senator Broder said the proposed edits aimed to align the delegationrules with common practice in other counties and to modernize language for consistency. "All folks that are duly elected and qualified and eligible should be eligible for any leadership position," Broder said during debate. Representative Anna Eskamani and Representative Leonard Spencer favored voting on individual line items.

Why it matters: Delegation rules govern how this group of county lawmakers coordinates statewide legislative priorities and local requests. The affirmative votes require the delegation to follow the updated process and allow electronic methods for urgent decision-making, and the virtual property-tax briefing sets up an additional venue for county officials and residents to examine tax policy before the 2026 session.

Votes at a glance
- Remove 50% precinct requirement (Broder motion): FAILED (roll-call: no majority)
- Technical language and committee-name edits (Broder motion): APPROVED (roll-call: unanimous)
- Allow emergency public hearings by two-thirds vote, including electronic means: APPROVED (roll-call: unanimous)
- Adopt changes to local-bill process and renumbering: APPROVED (roll-call: unanimous)
- Schedule virtual briefing with Orange County Tax Collector on property taxes: APPROVED (roll-call: unanimous)
- Delegation officer elections: Chair — LaVonne Bracy Davis (approved); Vice Chair — Leonard Spencer (approved after rules clarification); Secretary — Rita Harris (approved)

End note: The delegation recorded roll-call votes on the floor for each motion and will meet again virtually for the property-tax briefing; members asked staff to circulate updated rule text to the delegation prior to further action.