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Sponsor asks Secretary of State for public tracking of enrolled bills; Secretary cautions about operational and political limits
Summary
Rep. Lucy Weber urged the committee to require a public-facing listing of where enrolled bills are in the hand-off between the legislature and governor's office. Secretary David Scanlon described the enroll/approval workflow and warned leadership sometimes keeps bills private for political reasons.
Representative Lucy Weber told the committee the lack of a single, public source showing where enrolled bills are between the chambers, enrolling office and governor27s desk makes it hard for legislators and members of the public to track a bill27s status.
"All I'm asking is that the secretary of state have either on their website or a link ... a public-facing listing of where the bills are in the process," Weber said.
Nut graf: Secretary of State David Scanlon explained the Enrolled Bills Committee process, the Secretary of State27s role as an intermediary, and that his office can tell callers whether a bill is with the Speaker, the Senate president, or already sent to the governor. He cautioned that leadership sometimes retains bills for political or scheduling reasons and that further public disclosure could raise operational and political questions.
Scanlon said his office keeps records and could publish a spreadsheet, but the legislature has historically declined to make some of that detail publicly visible. "There may be reasons why the leadership in the House or the Senate wants to hang on to a bill at the tail end of the session," he said.
House Clerk Paul Smith told the committee similar records do exist and that adding a column for Speaker/Senate President receipt would be a modest lift.
Ending: The committee closed the hearing after discussion; members said they would consult the House and Senate leadership and the Secretary of State27s office before pursuing statutory changes.
