Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections And Voting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee reviews Senate message on House Bill 67; senators say secretary of state will cover costs from election fund
Summary
Committee discussed a Senate message on House Bill 67, which the Senate amended with a replace-all; the secretary of state told members the agency will fund costs from the election fund, but municipalities will still face some ballot-programming costs.
Committee members discussed a Senate message related to House Bill 67, which the Senate amended with a replace-all amendment that changes municipal duties in different elections and preserved the House’s pilot-program date with a floor amendment by Senator Gray.
A committee member reported speaking with the secretary of state, who said the agency would cover the bill’s costs “with their internal funds” and that the senate-amended version would pull money from the election fund so no general funds would be involved. The member summarized: “We heard from the secretary of state, and they said that they were gonna cover all the money with their internal funds.”
Members noted the fiscal note in the packet reflects the original House bill and that no updated fiscal note appears in committee materials. Several members emphasized municipalities will still bear some local costs such as programming ballots and election equipment: “the city or town clerk shall bear the cost of programming for state and federal elections,” an excerpt from the bill text noted during discussion.
Committee members said the change appears to leave no general-fund impact for the state but acknowledged municipal-level costs remain. The chair suggested leaving concurrence to the election law committee chairs; one member said there was “no objection from this group.” No formal Finance committee vote on this message was recorded at this meeting.
