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Sponsors introduce RS 32,575; committee debates how to share draft with public
Summary
Sponsors introduced RS 32,575 and the committee debated whether to introduce it as a bill so the public could reliably access the text. Sponsor Jordan Redmond said stakeholders requested clarifying tweaks; the committee voted to introduce the RS and seek a bill number so it can be posted.
The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to introduce RS 32,575 after an extended discussion about stakeholder review and public access to draft legislative language.
Jordan Redmond, representing District 3 in Kootenai County, told the committee that stakeholder meetings after the earlier draft prompted a few "minor and clerical" changes to the prior RS (03/28). He said the revisions include clarifications to a work requirement so that part-time college or vocational students qualify and so that a parent or caretaker personally providing care for a dependent is explicitly covered. "Most of them are minor and clerical," Redmond said, adding those changes were intended to better reflect legislative intent.
Committee members raised concerns about transparency because an RS (revised substitute) is typically in the sponsors' possession and may not automatically be posted on the public agenda or website. Representative Ruhrille asked whether stakeholders could see the draft before Monday's hearing; the chair said that because the RS had been before the committee it was public information and could be shared, though he acknowledged technical limits to posting it to the website. Representative Healy said she worried about public perception and preferred introducing the RS so it could be posted, even if that might delay the timeline by a day or two.
Representative Egbert moved to introduce RS 32,575 so the full text could be publicly accessible; the motion carried on a voice vote after discussion about the timeline for obtaining a bill number and having the clerk and speaker read the RS across the desk. The chair said he would check with the House Clerk and the Speaker about the quickest process to obtain a bill number and return the printed bill to the committee; he also said the committee's Monday meeting time would be shifted to 9 a.m. to allow for the change in timing.
Earlier in the meeting the committee approved minutes from Feb. 25–26. The chair said sponsors could release the RS to the public and that he preferred broader distribution; several members urged a mechanism to make the RS link on the agenda point directly to the draft text so anyone could access it without requesting it from individual members.
The transcript does not include a roll-call tally for the vote to introduce RS 32,575; members responded by voice vote and the chair declared the motion passed. Sponsors indicated they would work with the clerk and speaker to secure a bill number and have the bill printed and posted.
