Committee advances HB527 (election‑plan postings) and HB562 (eliminate certain agency reports)

The House State Administration committee took executive action on two bills it had heard earlier in the day.

HB527 (Rep. Teal): The committee considered amendment 527.001.002, which changes the requirement that local election administrators submit written plans for all‑mail elections to the Secretary of State by instead requiring the plans be posted on county election office websites or publicly noticed in another way; the amendment added fallback language for school districts or smaller counties that lack websites. Committee members discussed what "another way" of notice might mean and suggested including newspaper notice if needed; the amendment passed on a voice vote with several members recorded by proxy. The committee then passed HB527 as amended by voice vote; the transcript records multiple proxies voting aye and at least one recorded 'no' on record votes for some actions.

HB562 (Chair Darling): The committee considered HB562, part of a red‑tape relief package that would repeal certain agency reporting requirements. An amendment distributed in committee added additional reports to the bill’s repealer sections (examples included biodiesel tax refund reports, motor-fuel tax cooperative agreement items, state trust lands accessibility reports and land‑banking reports). Committee members discussed that agencies requested the removals through the governor's red‑tape initiative; the amendment and bill as amended passed by voice vote with proxies recorded.

The committee scheduled further executive action on additional bills the following morning and adjourned.