George, a city staff member who advises the committee on rules, reminded FSIR members that council rules provide an exception for emergency FSIR meetings when, in the chair's opinion, timely action is required because of state or federal legislative activity. The rule permits an emergency meeting to be held electronically after appropriate posting.

"The only exception to this requirement is for FSIR, when in the opinion of the chair of the FSIR committee it is necessary to convene an emergency meeting in order to be able to respond in a timely fashion to state or federal legislative activity," George said, quoting the council rules.

George also advised members on public testimony: if a council member testifies before the legislature in a personal capacity on a bill that differs from a formally adopted city position, the member should explicitly state they are speaking on their own behalf and not on behalf of the city. George and the chair asked members to inform staff if they plan to testify so the city can manage legislative relationships and avoid confusion in the delegation.

Ending: Committee members were asked to notify staff in advance when they cannot attend meetings and to alert the chair before testifying on matters where the city has taken a contrary position.