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Senate Rules Committee lays out confirmation procedures, schedules gaming commission bill for first hearing
Summary
At its Jan. 22 organizational meeting the Senate Rules Committee set time limits and procedures for bill hearings and confirmations, said it will prioritize nominations that must be confirmed for officials to serve, and named a bill to reform the gaming commission as the first substantive item.
Chair Katie Duhigg, chair of the Senate Rules Committee, opened the committee's organizational meeting on Jan. 22 and outlined how the panel will handle bill hearings and confirmations during the session.
"Our list so far this year is a 170 people. We are not going to do a 170 confirmations. We're but we are gonna get through as many as we can," Chair Katie Duhigg said, describing the committee as a "workhorse" that handles both bills and the large number of confirmations the Senate must consider.
The committee set specific time practices for hearings: bill sponsors get 20 minutes total for presentation and organized support; the committee recommends splitting that as 10 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for public support. Organized opposition will be allotted 15 minutes; unorganized opposition has 10 minutes total, with up to 10 speakers given one minute each or, if only two speakers appear, up to five minutes apiece. For confirmations, committee vice chair Leo Jaramillo said the committee will follow similar organized/unorganized rules and allow up to two minutes for individual supporters when no organized support is presented.
The committee also agreed to start meetings at 9 a.m., operate "on military time" to keep to the floor schedule and not take formal votes until a quorum is present. Staff emphasized giving analysts time to review committee substitutes or lengthy amendments by requesting materials 24 hours before a hearing.
On scheduling and priorities, Duhigg said the committee will balance legislation and confirmations but will prioritize confirmations where an appointee cannot legally serve until confirmed. "Any confirmations where the person can't serve without being confirmed, that generally gets top priority," Duhigg said. She added cabinet secretary confirmations will be scheduled in the second half of the session to allow newer members to gain familiarity with confirmation practice; regents and other nominees who cannot serve without confirmation will be scheduled up front.
Duhigg said she and Senator Jim Townsend plan to work on an overall rewrite and cleanup of the Senate rules, noting some provisions are out of date or do not reflect current practice. She also said the committee would consider a consent calendar for noncontroversial bills or confirmations, subject to any member's objection.
The committee announced its first substantive meeting will be Monday and named a bill "reforming the gaming commission" as the first item members should expect to see. Vice Chair Jaramillo will chair confirmation hearing proceedings (he "has the gavel" for confirmations), while Duhigg will fill in for sponsors who cannot attend.
Members and staff used the meeting to introduce themselves and their districts; several senators described their district boundaries and expressed readiness to learn the committee's procedures. Committee secretary Tulkara Webb introduced herself and staff described logistics the committee will use during the 60-day session and during interim confirmation hearings.
No formal motions or votes were recorded at the organizational meeting; the chair recessed the committee at the close of introductions and procedure discussion.
