Committee approves measure requiring commission vote on highway legislative packages

Unidentified Speaker 1, a presenter to the committee, told members the proposal would require any legislative package from the highway department to be voted on by the full commission and said that requirement would "make sure the commissioners understand what is being promoted by the department" and allow a thorough discussion of differing viewpoints.

The measure also preserves a process for emergency legislation, which Unidentified Speaker 1 said "follows very similar guidelines to what we have in regards to emergency rules and regs" presented to the ALC during the interim. The speaker cited a December 1 timeline as the target for when the package would be presented to the ALC as the body proceeds into regular session, though the presenter noted they had briefly lost their place while reading the date.

There was no public sign-up to speak for or against the bill. Unidentified Speaker 2 called for the committee's will; Senator Hill moved to advance the measure and Senator Eads seconded. The committee approved the measure by voice vote, after which Unidentified Speaker 2 said, "You've passed your bill." The transcript records no opposed voices during the vote.

The presenter confirmed the change in language that had been requested by the department: an original drafting requested that filings be made by "the director or his designee," and the presenter said that request came from the department and was reflected in edits to the draft.

Unidentified Speaker 2 closed the session and, in response to a scheduling question from Senator Amber, said the committee's regular meeting will be Monday, 15 minutes upon adjournment. The meeting then adjourned.

The committee's action was procedural: the transcript shows the committee took a voice vote to adopt the measure as presented. The record does not list a bill number, roll-call tallies, nor identify the director by name; those details were not specified in the transcript.