Committee adopts amendments creating 'sanctuary compliance fund,' advances House Bill 1303

A House committee adopted amendments to House Bill 13‑03 on a party-line committee vote and voted to advance the bill with a recommendation for a due pass, the panel said during a meeting that concluded with a 6‑yes, 1‑no, 6‑absent roll call.

Representative Tom Toman said the committee would insert a 30‑day requirement and create a new special fund called the “sanctuary compliance fund.” "Within 30 days after the political subdivision receives an opinion under subsection 2 of the attorney the Attorney General shall direct the State Treasurer to withhold the political subdivision's allocation from the state aid distribution fund under section 57‑39.2‑26.1, and deposit the withheld funds into the sanctuary compliance fund. Period," Toman read to the panel.

The amendment also removes recurring language requiring payments "each quarter" and replaces a reference to the "general fund" with the new sanctuary compliance fund, according to the amendment text read into the record. The committee added language establishing the sanctuary compliance fund as a special fund in the state treasury with a continuing appropriation. The text says monies deposited under the bill would be held in the fund and appropriated to the state treasurer to return withheld allocations to a political subdivision only after the attorney general notifies the treasurer that the subdivision is in compliance with the act's requirements.

Committee members raised no recorded objections during debate on the amendment text; the committee chair called for a roll call after a brief procedural pause. Chairman Longmeir announced the clerk's tally as "6 yay, 1 nay, 6 absent not voting," and said, "The motion carries. The amendment carries. We now have before us House Bill 13 o 3 as amended and further amended." The committee then received a motion for a due‑pass recommendation on the bill; Representative Toman seconded that motion. The clerk again recorded the vote as 6 yeas, 1 nay, 6 absent not voting, and the committee reported House Bill 13‑03 as amended and further amended. Representative Toman was named as the bill carrier.

During the discussion, Toman said counsel and the Secretary of State's office had worked on the amendment language and that the attorney general's office had been consulted and "understands this" though it may propose changes on the Senate side. No specific statutory or constitutional objections were recorded on the committee floor during the meeting.

The committee concluded its business and the chair said the panel would not meet the following morning unless the bill was returned from floor action.