House committee approves amendment to Administrative Code language and shortens state-plan update cycle

The House Human Services Committee on the motion of a committee member approved House Bill 11-17 as amended, updating language in the Administrative Code of 1929 related to the Department of Drug and Alcohol and changing the department's required state-plan update interval from four years to three.

The change to the update interval stemmed from an amendment offered in committee and agreed to by the bill sponsor. Representative Rivera, the bill sponsor, said the change reduces the revision cycle "from 4 years to 3 years is perfectly acceptable, and I appreciate the input." Ashley, a committee staff member, described the bill as amending the Administrative Code of 1929 to update terminology under the Department of Drug and Alcohol's powers and duties and to amend the frequency of required state-plan updates.

Two committee amendments were adopted before the bill was reported. Amendment A00307 inserted the phrase "support services included under" before the term "vocational rehabilitation," and Amendment A00305 required the department to update its state plan at least once every three years. Both amendments passed with no negative votes recorded on the committee record. A motion to consider and subsequent motions to adopt the amendments were seconded; one amendment adoption was seconded by Representative Gurao and the other was seconded by Representative Rivera.

Committee members who spoke in favor said the amendments clarified language and aligned the update schedule with the department's operational cycle. Chairman Heffley noted committee discussions with the department and urged support for the amendment and the underlying bill.

With no negative votes recorded in committee, House Bill 11-17 as amended was reported from the Human Services Committee for further consideration by the full House.