Judiciary Committee moves to concur with S 44, removing emergency exception for local agreements

The Judiciary Committee on April 2 voted to concur with S 44 as passed by the Senate, a bill members said removes an emergency exception that previously allowed local governments to enter certain agreements without formal gubernatorial approval.

Committee members said the bill narrows an existing exception that had allowed municipalities or local law enforcement to enter intergovernmental agreements during a state of emergency. “All this bill does is it takes away the exception,” a committee member said, describing the change as requiring gubernatorial approval for those agreements even during emergencies.

Committee discussion focused on the language change and whether it was duplicative of existing text. A member noted the bill removes language that had created an exception for states of emergency and added clarifying language to ensure the requirement for gubernatorial sign-off is explicit. The motion to concur with S 44 as passed by the Senate was made and seconded; the committee proceeded to a roll call.

The committee referenced the statutory sections cited in the discussion; members described the bill as restoring the requirement that the governor, in consultation with the attorney general, authorize the agreements rather than leaving an emergency-based exception.

The meeting record shows committee members proceeded with the vote after discussion. The transcript records members saying “yes” during the roll call. The committee then moved on to other bills on the agenda.

The bill was discussed and voted on during the committee’s regular session; the transcript does not include the full enrolled text of S 44 or a complete statutory citation beyond the references made in committee remarks.