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Committee approves changes to out-of-state travel reimbursement policy for members
Summary
A legislative expense oversight committee voted unanimously to approve revisions that lift an early-registration restriction and allow members to attend multiple conferences subject to a per-member budget and speaker preapproval.
The House and Senate Expense Oversight Committee approved changes to its out-of-state lodging, meal and transportation reimbursement procedures, voting unanimously to allow members greater flexibility to attend conferences while retaining several controls.
The changes remove a prior restriction that limited registration reimbursement to "early-bird" rates and instead make early registration "highly encouraged," while preserving requirements for receipts and preapproval of conferences by the speaker. Committee members approved the change by voice vote; a separate motion to approve the minutes of Feb. 5, 2024, also passed unanimously earlier in the meeting.
Staff member Leah Thacker told the committee the revisions "aren't too many changes, just a few significant ones," and said the intent is to let members choose from more conferences while setting a per-member travel budget. Thacker said the committee "is proposing 45100," a figure that was spoken during the meeting but not further clarified in the record. She said the policy still requires that conferences be preapproved by the speaker and that usual documentation and receipt requirements remain in place.
Thacker also said Legislative Research and General Counsel (LRGC) was consulted about how the revisions interact with broader rules. She also noted Representative James A. Dunnigan is working with LRGC on a joint rules resolution that would reference the committee's travel policy.
Representative O'Meara asked for typical cost examples for conferences, and staff answered that costs vary widely depending on location (for example, a Denver conference would typically be less expensive than a Hawaii conference), which the staff said is one reason for setting a per-member budget rather than strict limits tied to specific conference types.
The committee placed the motions and approved them by voice vote. The record does not show a roll-call tally or the names of movers and seconders for the motions; members voted by saying "aye," and chairs declared the motions passed.
The committee adjourned after approving the minutes and the travel-procedures revisions.
The record indicates consultation with LRGC and an anticipated joint rules resolution, but does not specify a final budget figure, implementation date, or how the per-member budget would be administered beyond the statements made during the meeting.
