Senate committee gives favorable reports on multiple bills; SB48 amended to clarify registrars' status and pay

A Senate committee gave favorable reports to multiple bills on an 8-0 roll call and adopted amendments to Senate Bill 48 that lawmakers said clarify the employment status of the board of registrars and adjust registrars' pay.

The votes came after brief debate and two amendments to SB48. Senator Stewart offered an amendment to delete language that would have treated the board of registrars as state or county employees; Stewart said the change was necessary “because the board of registrars, they're not they're not county nor state employees.” The committee adopted that amendment and a second amendment addressing the registrars' pay rate, and then approved the bill as amended. The committee also held Senate Bill 49 at the request of its sponsor.

Why it matters: The committee action moves bills forward in the legislative process and changes to SB48 directly affect local election administrators — the board of registrars and the individuals who serve in that role — by clarifying how the law classifies them and by changing pay provisions. The hold on SB49 delays further committee consideration until the sponsor resolves outstanding issues.

The committee opened consideration of the first bill on the agenda with a brief presentation from Sunny Brassfield, then approved that bill by voice/roll call. The committee then took up Senate Bill 48, which Senator Singleton positioned as the second bill on the agenda. Senator Stewart offered the first amendment (seconded by Senator Allen), which struck language treating the board as county or state employees; the committee adopted that amendment by roll call. A second amendment addressing registrars' pay was presented and adopted; committee members discussed several figures during the exchange, including references in the record to $80 and $115 and to hourly equivalents (comments in the transcript mentioned figures including $19 per hour and $14.50 per hour), but the transcript record of the exact final statutory dollar figure is not completely consistent. After adopting the amendments, the committee moved to adopt the bill as amended; a roll call recorded eight ayes and no nays and the committee gave SB48 a favorable report.

Senate Bill 49 was carried over at the sponsor's request. The transcript records: “Senate bill 49 … has asked us to hold … he's waiting on a sub,” and the committee agreed to carry the bill to the next meeting.

The meeting concluded after routine confirmations of the roll and the recorded favorable reports. The transcript records repeated roll calls and confirmations of “8 ayes, no nays” for the items the committee reported favorably.

Votes at a glance - First bill on the agenda (bill number not specified in the transcript): Favorable report, roll call recorded as 8 ayes, 0 nays. Motion recorded as “favorable” by Senator Hoare, seconded by Senator Elliott. Names present and recorded in the roll call are in the transcript; the roll call tally was 8–0. - Senate Bill 48 (sponsor: Senator Singleton): Two amendments adopted (first offered by Senator Stewart, second by sponsor or sponsor designee). Committee adopted SB48 as amended; roll call recorded as 8 ayes, 0 nays. The transcript records discussion of clarifying that the board of registrars are not county or state employees and discussion of a pay-rate amendment (figures referenced in the transcript include $80, $115 and hourly-rate equivalents; the transcript contains inconsistent figures and does not unambiguously record a single final amount in every line of the record). - Senate Bill 49 (sponsor: Senator Singleton): Held at sponsor's request pending a subcommittee or additional work; no final vote recorded.

What the records show and what they do not: The committee recorded unanimous favorable reports where indicated; the transcript contains the language of amendments and discussion snippets but contains inconsistent numeric details for the pay amendment (see clarifying details below). Where specific dollar amounts or exact statutory line numbers are unclear in the transcript, this article reports the inconsistency rather than asserting a definitive figure.

Ending: The committee adjourned after carrying SB49 and recording the favorable reports. The bills recorded as favorably reported will continue through the Senate process per normal legislative procedures; SB49 will return when the sponsor is ready to proceed.