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Legislative committee approves bill to create Legislative Human Resources division
Summary
The Executive Committee approved a bill draft to expand and rename the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations as a Legislative Human Resources division, voting to advance the draft after debate over scope and long‑term staffing.
The Executive Committee of the Legislative Council voted to approve a bill draft that would expand the Office of Legislative Workplace Relations and rebrand it as a Legislative Human Resources division.
Staff presented the draft LLLF 10 10 and an accompanying memo from Director Ben Fitzsimons describing the scope of current services and how those services could expand with additional staffing. "The bill basically expands the scope of services of the current Office of Legislative Workplace Relations and then rebrands and renames that office to Legislative Human Resources division," a staff presenter told the committee.
Senator/Representative [Speaker 6], who moved to approve the draft, said the measure does not increase full‑time equivalents now and framed it as a reorganization that would provide flexibility as demands for payroll, benefits, employee relations and training change. "I do think the demands that we have seen, whether it relates to payroll and benefits or employee relations or training and professional development, I think a nod this direction and allowing the division at least to get started based on the 2 FTE is a solid first step," the mover said.
Minority Leader Lundin opposed the motion, warning against what he called the "inexorable growth and creep of government," saying an office can become a division and eventually expand into a much larger operation. "For me, this is part of the definition of the inexorable growth and creep of government," he said.
After brief discussion, the committee held a roll call. The chair reported the motion "passes 4 2 2." The committee record does not specify the individual yea/nay names beyond the roll call sequence read aloud during the meeting.
Next steps: the approved bill draft will be carried forward for drafting and potential introduction according to the Legislative Council's process; staff said the memo outlines staffing scenarios and that further decisions about FTE and services would follow as the General Assembly considers resources and priorities.
