House Health and Welfare Committee to fast-track rules review, outlines remote testimony and routing-slip process

Chairman Vanderwaute, presiding over the House Health and Welfare Committee, opened the session by welcoming new and returning members and set the committee's schedule for rule review and procedure. "On Tuesday we will start with the rules. Tuesday Wednesday we'll do the rules," he said, announcing a compressed review plan and noting some materials from the Department of Health and Welfare had not yet arrived.

The compressed schedule was detailed by Vice Chair Marco Erickson, who said the committee would be able to review the department's full Health and Welfare rules in two sessions, with the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing slated for four days of review. "This year, we are blessed to have, Jared Larson, who is our government liaison," Erickson said, adding that the liaison and bureau experts would present so the committee would not be overwhelmed by multiple presenters.

The chairman stressed why rule review matters. "Rules are important because rules are what for all the new members of the committee, rules are what somebody else writes to interpret the statutes that we passed," Chairman Vanderwaute said, urging members to read the materials before deliberations.

Members asked about access to materials. Representative Kaler asked, "The rules that we're reviewing, are they online or are they going to be given to us in paper format to read?" The committee secretary, Irene Moore, and the chair confirmed the dockets and routing slips (RSs) would be posted online: "They are all online. And this committee is all online, so all your agendas and all the RS's and all that will be all online," the chair said.

Committee leaders described how routing slips and amendments would be handled. Members were told RSs are generally private to the sponsor until they are posted with the agenda. The chair and vice chair said the committee would allow some limited discussion of an RS to permit amendments, but emphasized the RS is the sponsor's personal property and that, in many cases, it may be preferable for a sponsor to withdraw an RS and refile an amended version. Erickson said staff and presenters would be available if members had questions during review.

The committee confirmed it will accept both in-person and remote testimony. The chair said remote witnesses must sign in and be scheduled, and that time limits may be enforced when many people sign up. The vice chair added he controls the remote queue and noted the committee sometimes must limit the number of individual speakers when dozens sign up on a single issue.

The meeting also recorded two administrative items: members volunteered to proofread minutes, and the committee agreed not to meet on the following Thursday and Friday. "So, anybody want to volunteer to be proofreaders of the minutes? Representative McCann and Representative Ekbert," the chair said, and those members volunteered.

The committee adjourned after scheduling rules review for the coming days and outlining procedures for RSs, public testimony and staff support. The chair encouraged members to review the posted materials and the committee's acronym list ahead of the rule hearings.