Committee begins review of statutory reporting requirements, urges targeted research and agency outreach

The House Government Operations Committee resumed its review of the reports-repeal bill and the process for evaluating statutory reporting requirements, agreeing to divide the workload, seek agency input and request training on searching legislative records.

The discussion matters because many reporting requirements remain on the books even when no written report has been filed for years, committee members and legislative counsel said. Committee members said they want a practical method to determine whether a reporting requirement is still useful, overlapping, or ripe for repeal or consolidation.

Tucker Anderson, legislative counsel, walked members through one example: the treasurer’s local investment advisory committee report, which he said is required "on or before January 15, annually" under the underlying statute but that "the word written was not included here." Anderson noted the committee’s reports database shows the most recent submission was in February 2018 and that some…