Committee approves three bills by committee substitute; several bills left pending

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development on an early morning roll call adopted committee substitutes and recommended three bills for local classification while leaving several other bills pending for further work.

The committee adopted the committee substitute for "senate bill 11 46" and then recommended the substitute for local and contested classification. The committee likewise adopted substitutes for "senate bill 11 98" and "senate bill 7 63," each recorded as "5 ayes and no nays," and each was recommended for local classification (either uncontested or contested as noted in committee.

The committee took those votes with brief staff and author explanations and few questions. The chair and members then proceeded to lay out additional bills that were not voted on and were left pending for further clarification or scheduling. Those items included bills that required resource or stakeholder follow-up and at least one item that the chair said he wanted to revisit after receiving clarified definitions or drafting from agency resources.

Votes at a glance: - "Senate bill 11 46" (committee substitute adopted; committee recorded 5 ayes, no nays; committee recommended the committee substitute be printed and recommended the bill for local and contested classification). - "Senate bill 11 98" (committee substitute adopted; committee recorded 5 ayes, no nays; committee recommended the bill for local and contested classification). - "Senate bill 7 63" (committee substitute adopted; committee recorded 5 ayes, no nays; committee recommended the bill for local uncontested classification).

The committee recorded the roll calls on the record (members present and voting were identified during each roll call). Several other bills were explained by their authors and left pending for additional information or to give staff time to prepare a committee substitute where needed.