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Senate amendment drops child-and-parent legal-representation task force from S.109 after committee debate
Summary
A proposed task force to study legal representation for children and families in abuse-and-neglect proceedings was removed from the Senate amendment to S.109, prompting expressed disappointment from several committee members and discussion of alternate legislative vehicles.
The Senate amendment to S.109 removes a child-and-parent legal-representation task force that would have studied representation in CHINS (child-in-need-of-services) and abuse-and-neglect proceedings. Committee members expressed disappointment and discussed alternative paths for the work.
Committee discussion noted that testimony supporting the task force had been "powerful" and that stakeholders had delivered detailed proposals; at least one member called the removal "disappointing" on the record. The transcript shows members saying the work could be pursued in a separate vehicle and noted that a bill numbered 2093 exists and might carry the topic forward.
Legislative counsel described the Senate's approach as partly pragmatic: some Senate members declined to include new, potentially contested study bodies in a miscellaneous bill they expected to pass quickly late in the session. The result was that sections with more disagreement were pulled from the consolidated amendment.
No formal substitute study directive was adopted during the committee meeting; members discussed continuing stakeholder conversations and moving the subject to another bill or committee process. The committee ultimately voted to concur with the Senate changes to the broader S.109 package despite the removal of the task force; the concurrence vote was recorded 8-1-2.
