Representative Jared Dunnigan, chair of the Legislative Process Committee, called the meeting to order and the committee voted to approve minutes and three technical rules resolutions for the House, Senate and joint rules.

The committee approved the minutes and the house rules resolution, the senate rules resolution and the joint rules resolution after brief staff presentations and minimal discussion. Megan Bolen of the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel told the committee the package is intended to make “very technical, minor changes” that staff hope to address at the start of the next session. Bolen said the changes include committee name updates and corrections of “outdated errors” in legislative rules and described a drafting-system limitation that will require some changes to be made by substitute rather than by amendment.

The approved house rules resolution renames the House Business and Labor Standing Committee to the House Business, Labor and Commerce Standing Committee and adjusts rule language to reflect drafting-system limitations. The senate rules resolution contains the same drafting change and a minor numbering correction. The joint rules resolution updates cross-references to recently renamed internal committees and aligns terminology used in the Legislative Management Committee’s harassment-to-discriminatory-conduct policy.

Votes were taken on each item in committee. The minutes were approved by voice vote; the senate rules resolution passed in committee, recorded in the transcript as “2 to 0” in committee discussion and later characterized as passing unanimously by voice vote; the house rules resolution and the joint rules resolution also passed by unanimous voice vote in committee.

Megan Bolen emphasized the practical effect of the drafting-system change: “it’s just gonna require a different mechanism to get that done,” referring to the need to use a substitute instead of an amendment for adding or removing entire sections when drafting limitations apply. Representative Moss and other members asked clarifying questions about whether the substitute requirement applies in committee and on the floor; Bolen confirmed it applies to both.

The committee did not alter policy substance in these resolutions; members framed the package as housekeeping to correct names, align terminology, and adapt to a new drafting system so the legislature’s rules reflect current internal processes.

The committee moved on after the votes to a broader review of procedural and process issues to be addressed later in draft bill files.

Ending: The committee concluded the votes and advanced the technical rule changes without substantive debate; staff will carry the approved language forward in the form agreed in committee and prepare bill files as appropriate.