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Subcommittee advances LFO recommendation for Office of Public Records Advocate; KPMs approved, amendment delayed
Summary
The subcommittee approved the Legislative Fiscal Office recommendation for Senate Bill 5535 establishing the Office of the Public Records Advocate with two positions and LFO‑recommended funding; it approved four key performance measures and deferred final adoption of the dash‑1 amendment because the amendment was not posted four hours in advance.
The Ways and Means Subcommittee on General Government took action April 15 on Senate Bill 5535, the primary budget measure for the Office of the Public Records Advocate.
Members moved and approved the LFO recommendation to advance Senate Bill 5535 to the full committee. The committee also approved four proposed key performance measures (KPMs) for the new office. A proposed dash‑1 amendment that would finalize the LFO dollar figure was not posted on OLIS at least four hours before the work session and the motion to adopt the amendment was withdrawn; committee chairs said the amendment and final adoption will be carried over to the next day’s meeting.
What was approved: Kim, the legislative fiscal analyst, summarized the LFO recommendation for the 2025‑27 budget. LFO recommended a budget supporting two positions (two full‑time equivalents) and a LFO recommended appropriation of $1,172,941 other funds, reflected in the draft dash‑1 amendment. Kim described that the recommended budget was the current service level recommendation and that LFO had not added additional packages.
The subcommittee approved the LFO recommendation to advance the bill. The committee proceeded to consider and approve the office’s four KPMs, which staff and the agency developed together. The KPMs are:
- A routine customer service survey after agency interactions (standard across agencies). - A “council best practices” survey administered to the Public Records Advisory Council (15‑question series intended to ensure the council has current expectations and feedback practices). - Mediation efficiency: the average number of days to complete a request to mediate a disputed public records request (the target initially proposed is seven days). - Training effectiveness: the percentage of training participants who report the training provided relevant, useful best practices for processing public record requests.
Kim said the mediation target was based on the agency’s early work and that the seven‑day target will be tracked and adjusted as needed. “Because they’re new, and based on the work that they’ve done so far, they think 7 days is a good target,” Kim said.
What was postponed: the subcommittee debated a dash‑1 amendment that would adjust the appropriation to reflect deductions for assessment costs. When a member attempted to adopt the dash‑1 amendment, other members noted it had not been posted on OLIS for the required four hours. Committee staff said the amendment was not visible under the amendment tab and the motion to adopt the amendment was withdrawn; the co‑chairs said the committee will carry the amendment to the next meeting and take final action then.
Procedural notes: the committee voted to advance the LFO recommendation and to adopt the KPMs by voice; no roll‑call vote tally was recorded in the transcript. The dash‑1 amendment adoption was pulled because of the missing OLIS posting, and the committee left the bill to return the next day for final amendment adoption and any remaining votes.
