House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee lays out notice, amendment and testimony rules for the session

Representative Chris Todd, chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, opened the committee and announced procedural rules for the session, including deadlines for putting bills “on notice,” how to file amendments and how the committee will accept testimony.

Todd said, “Bills must be put on notice by 03:30PM on Wednesday before the next scheduled meeting. Bills must be put on notice through the house portal.” He told members amendments must be filed by Monday at 10 a.m., that “verbal amendments and amendments filed after the deadline shall not be considered,” and that amendment submissions “must come from the email address of the member or their assistant.”

The chair also set rules for public participation. He said requests to testify must be submitted at least 24 hours before a scheduled meeting, either through the legislative website or in person prior to the meeting, and warned that submitting a witness card is not a guarantee of speaking time. The committee will limit witness testimony to three minutes and to the topic at hand. Todd directed that paper materials will not be distributed and that any materials provided for the committee must be submitted electronically in advance so staff can email them to members and add them to the committee dashboard.

Todd recognized committee staff and clerks who will assist with operations, including House clerks Emma Thoreau and Paul Obrick and committee staff Nathan Witt, Rob Cagle and attorney Doug Garrett. He named Representative Greg Martin as vice chair.

The committee asked the public to observe decorum during meetings and encouraged remote viewing and electronic engagement while asking that in-room audiences remain quiet so the committee can consider each bill without distraction. After introductions and the procedural briefing, Todd closed the meeting; he said, “Seeing none, we will stand adjourned. Without objection, we're adjourned.”

The session was organizational: the chair announced rules and timelines but the transcript records no formal votes on adoption of these rules. No bills were on notice at this meeting and no committee votes on legislation were recorded.