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Senate committee shortens notice requirement for intergovernmental cooperation councils
Summary
House Bill 1401, presented by Senator Johnson, would change the notice requirement for intergovernmental cooperation council meetings from no later than 10 days to at least 3 days, a modernization lawmakers said would allow quicker emergency coordination. The committee approved the bill by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded.
Senator Johnson presented House Bill 1401 to the Senate City, County & Local Affairs Committee and said the bill updates the notice period for intergovernmental cooperation councils from no later than 10 days to at least 3 days before a meeting.
Johnson, who said the bill is co-sponsored by Representative McGee, described the change as a modernization reflecting "the days of the Internet and instant communications." He told the committee of a case in which a county lacked an ambulance on a Friday night during a football game and said the longer 10-day notice period would have hindered a timely meeting to fix coordination problems. "They had a mix up once. An ambulance was not in the county. It was a Friday night. There was a football game. A player got hurt, and there was no ambulance in the county to get him to the hospital," Johnson said as an example of why quicker notice can matter for public safety.
No questions or public testimony were recorded in the transcript. Senator Johnson indicated he was closed on the bill; a motion to pass was made and the committee approved HB 1401 by voice vote. The transcript records multiple "Aye" responses but does not provide a roll-call or a numerical tally.
Committee members also noted that several other bills on the agenda were being amended, including Senate Bill 348, House Bill 1395, and House Bill 1041. With no further business, the chair adjourned the committee.
