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Committee advances study on moving fiscal-note production to the Legislature
Summary
The Legislative Administration Committee voted to advance House Joint Resolution 40, authorizing an interim study to evaluate shifting responsibility for producing fiscal notes from the executive branch to the legislative branch; supporters said the study would examine costs, staffing and partisan perceptions.
The Legislative Administration Committee on Thursday advanced House Joint Resolution 40, which would direct an interim study into transferring responsibility for producing fiscal notes from the executive branch to the legislative branch, the committee announced after a voice vote.
House Minority Leader Katie Sullivan, who sponsored HJ 40, told the committee the resolution is a study only and would examine whether the Legislature could assume the work now performed by executive-branch staff. "This is an interim study on transferring the responsibility for producing fiscal notes from the executive branch to the legislative branch and then having that study reported to the legislature," Sullivan said, adding the study would consider costs, staffing needs and how the change might affect partisan perceptions.
The study language cites Title 5, Chapter 4, Part 2 (governance: fiscal notes) and notes that other jurisdictions have assigned fiscal-note production to legislative staff. Sullivan compared the proposal to the U.S. Congress’s use of the Congressional Budget Office as a legislative fiscal resource and said the study would allow the Legislature to assess whether a similar model is appropriate.
Amy Sassano, deputy budget director in the budget office, answered members’ questions about current capacity. "We have about 15 or 16 folks in our office that work on fiscal notes," Sassano said. She added the office does not routinely bring in extra staff and estimated the office produced roughly 1,500 fiscal notes across recent sessions, including originals and amendments. Sassano said staff earn "several thousand hours" of compensatory time during sessions because of the workload.
Committee members said the proposal merits study. Vice Chair Tuss said it "makes a lot of sense" to gather more information. Representative Edwards, citing time as a federal lobbyist, said he was unaware the state did fiscal notes differently and called the study a useful inquiry. Vice Chair Walsh noted related work already underway on dynamic fiscal notes and suggested the interim study could be coordinated with that effort.
After discussion, the committee opened executive action on HJ 40, and a do-pass motion was offered. The committee conducted a voice vote; the clerk later reported 13 ayes and 0 nays. The measure was advanced to the full floor.
The committee’s action sends HJ 40 to the next stage of consideration; the resolution itself requests an interim study and does not change current practice unless subsequent legislation is enacted.
