Senate committee approves substitute for SB 626 to allow nonresident airport board appointees after notice

A Senate committee agreed to a committee substitute for Senate Bill 626 that would let a municipality or county appoint a nonresident to a regional airport authority board after publishing a class 2 notice and waiting 90 days.

The committee substitute was explained by Counsel, who said, “The committee substitute would amend that current law to allow a municipality or a county to appoint a nonresident.” Counsel described the required public-notice step as a class 2 notice, published once a week for two consecutive weeks, followed by a 90-day waiting period before the nonresident could be appointed.

The change would not remove anyone already serving on an airport authority, Counsel confirmed in response to a question from the Senator from Summers. The Senator from the Thirteenth spoke in favor, saying, “I want to just speak in favor of the bill,” and noted that small municipalities sometimes have difficulty finding local residents to serve on airport authorities.

After brief discussion and no amendments, the committee agreed to the committee substitute by voice vote. The committee then voted to report the committee substitute to the full Senate with the recommendation that it pass; under the motion it will next be referred under its original double reference to the Committee on Government Organization. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript; the chair announced that the “ayes have it.”

The meeting then moved to routine business (approval of minutes) and adjourned.

Votes at a glance • Approval of minutes of 03/13/2025 — Motion made by Vice Chair; voice vote; chair declared the motion adopted (specific tally not recorded). • Committee substitute for Senate Bill 626 — Committee agreed to the committee substitute by voice vote; chair declared the committee substitute agreed to (specific tally not recorded). • Report of committee substitute for Senate Bill 626 to full Senate with recommendation that it do pass and, under double committee reference, first be referred to the Committee on Government Organization — Motion made by Vice Chair; voice vote; chair declared the motion adopted (specific tally not recorded).