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Committee recommends ITL for bill expanding Office of Child Advocate access, cites broad scope concerns
Summary
The Children and Family Law Committee voted 2-1 to recommend Inexpedient To Legislate (ITL) on Senate Bill 76 after members said the bill as drafted gave the Office of the Child Advocate overly broad access to records and unclear authority to investigate children who never received services.
The Children and Family Law Committee voted 2-1 to recommend that Senate Bill 76 be declared Inexpedient To Legislate (ITL), citing concerns that the bill's language would give the Office of the Child Advocate overly broad authority to access records and investigate children who had not received services from the agency.
Committee discussion focused on several perceived problems in the draft. A committee member said the bill—s language could reach "every vendor that the state uses" and worried it would allow the office to demand records beyond what was necessary for oversight. "I just don't think this bill is ready," the committee member said during debate, adding that attorneys who reviewed the language expressed concerns about the scope of disclosure.
Another member raised questions about a provision that would let the office review files for any child who "should have received services," saying it was not clear who would make that determination and describing the phrase as open-ended. Committee members said the combination of a broad reach into vendor records plus the unclear scope for determining which children the office could investigate suggested a comprehensive rewrite.
After discussion, a motion to declare the bill ITL was made, seconded and approved on a 2-1 vote. Committee members said they would remain open to a substantially revised bill in a future session.
Notes on process and outcome - Motion: Committee member moved that SB 76 be declared Inexpedient To Legislate (ITL); motion was seconded. - Vote: motion passed 2 to 1 (recorded in committee minutes). - Rationale: committee members cited (1) wording that could allow the Office of the Child Advocate and executive-branch designees to access broad categories of records, including vendor records; (2) a provision allowing review of records for children who "should have received services," with no clear decisionmaker; and (3) concerns that the bill had not been sufficiently refined after committee hearing to address those issues.
Ending: The committee recommended ITL on SB 76 but indicated receptivity to reworked language that would narrow scope and specify limits on record access and authority to investigate.
