Committee hears bill to raise threshold and require draft to trigger special-session poll

Representative George Nicholas Acacos introduced House Bill 348 to the House Legislative Administration Committee, saying the measure would increase the number of legislators needed to trigger a special-session poll from 10 to 30 and require a bill draft be submitted with the request.

"House Bill 3 48 is a straightforward piece of legislation, that addresses how our legislature triggers special sessions," Representative George Nicholas Acacos said. "Special session is serious business. ... This process ... spends taxpayer money. ... House Bill 3 48 does 2 things. It ... increases the number of legislators required to trigger a poll, from 10 to 30 members or 1 fifth of the body. And it also authorizes and requires a bill draft be submitted, with that request."

The bill’s sponsor framed the proposal as an effort to raise the bar against publicity-driven special-session requests and to provide a concrete starting point for any poll. "The latter bill draft request offers members a genuine concrete starting point on discussions to consider for a poll," Acacos said.

Richie Melby of the Secretary of State’s Office testified as an informational witness. Melby said the office’s role would remain procedural: packets sent to legislators for the special-session poll would include whatever materials the bill requires. "Procedurally, that's the only real change as far as our office is concerned," Melby said, adding that printing costs could increase slightly depending on the length of submitted draft legislation.

Committee members asked questions about the choice of 30 as the new threshold and about the constitutionality of changing how the polling denominator is calculated. Representative Tuss asked why the sponsor picked 30. "I actually personally believe the number should be higher," Acacos replied. "I think 50 is probably more reasonable... But 30 allows deference to the minority party ... and still call a special session." Representative Sherbert asked whether an amendment could treat unreturned ballots so they do not count toward the denominator; Melby said he had not considered that, and legal counsel would need to weigh in on constitutionality.

Melby told the committee that in a recent period there were four special-session requests and that initial request letters had between about 12 and 20 signatures — below the 30 threshold proposed in HB 348. The committee did not take formal action on the bill at the hearing. The chair closed the hearing and said the bill would be scheduled for a later executive action.

The hearing record contains no proponents or opponents who testified other than the sponsor and the informational witness, and no amendments were proposed during the hearing.

House Bill 348 remains under committee consideration; the committee indicated it will schedule further action at a later time.