House panel reviews bill to create joint government oversight and accountability committee

House Appropriations heard a detailed review of House Bill 67 on March 18, a proposal to create a Joint Government Oversight and Accountability Committee to examine whether state laws and programs are achieving their intended outcomes. Tim Devlin, legislative counsel, walked the committee through the bill’s purpose, structure and duties; Chris Roop of the Joint Fiscal Office gave a preliminary estimate of meeting costs; and representatives from the House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs described intent and limits of the draft language.

The bill would create a new chapter in Title 2 establishing an eight-member joint committee—four members from the House and four from the Senate—with a chair that rotates biennially. The committee would be supported by existing legislative staff, including the Joint Fiscal Office, Legislative Counsel and the Office of Legislative Operations. "The purpose of this act is to actuate the principle of government accountability by focusing on how evidence is used to inform policy," Tim Devlin said as he read the bill’s findings.

Devlin described duties and powers written into the draft, including authority to examine matters of "significant public concern" related to state government performance, to take or cause depositions, and to request presentations from…