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Ag committee approves recurring authorization for Community Services Block Grant public hearings
Summary
The committee approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 4001 to allow budget sections to hold required public hearings on Community Services Block Grant funding during the interim; the measure was placed on the consent calendar and passed on a committee roll call.
The Agriculture Committee voted to give a due pass to Senate Concurrent Resolution 4001, which affirms that the appropriations committees will hold required public hearings on the federal Community Services Block Grant as part of the Department of Commerce budget and authorizes budget sections to hold those hearings during the interim if new federal block-grant funds are received.
Brady Larson of Legislative Council staff, who staffs the budget section, told the committee the resolution extends a long-standing process first adopted in 1981 when the federal Community Services Block Grant program was created. "For the record, I'm Brady Larson with the legislative council staff, and I staff the budget section committee. And, what we have here is a resolution that has been presented before the legislative assembly for the past, 42 years," Larson said. He added that if hearings are held in the interim, "the budget section would report that to legislative management and then it would be presented to the entire legislative assembly."
Committee members asked procedural questions about referrals and dates. Representative White asked whether hearings held in the interim would go through legislative management; Larson replied they would. Representative Walmart asked about the resolution's 09/30/2027 date; Larson said it corresponds to the end of the federal fiscal year. Representative Dolridge moved a do-pass recommendation, later amending his motion to specify a due pass on Senate Concurrent Resolution 4,001 and placement on the consent calendar; Representative Holly seconded the amendment. Representative Rios objected to placement on the consent calendar for procedural reasons but did not oppose the bill itself.
The clerk recorded a roll call on the motion; members answering in the affirmative included Chairman Belts, Vice Chairman Hauck, Representative Anderson, Doverovich, Henderson, Holly, Overton, Kiefert, Nearing, Olsen, Rios, Schreiberg, Twight and Vollmer. The motion passed and the committee named Representative Eric as carrier.
The resolution formalizes interim hearing authority for a federal grant program that requires state public hearings; it does not appropriate funds or change program rules. The committee put the measure on the consent calendar and advanced it to the next steps in the legislative process.
