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Senate committee adopts rules and outlines plan to fold 16 reorganization bills into a single omnibus
Summary
The committee adopted its rules by voice vote and discussed a plan — led by Senator Hester — to file 16 individual reorganization bills, then withdraw them and combine their language into a single omnibus expected to exceed 1,500 pages; members asked for comparison copies from BLR and department-by-department hearings.
The committee adopted its rules by voice vote and moved to schedule detailed hearings on a large agency reorganization package expected early next month.
Senator Hester said the plan is to file 16 individual bills by the end of next week, "let them sit for a week," then withdraw them and file one omnibus bill that combines the language from all 16. "At that point, we'll withdraw all 16 and add 1 omnibus bill that includes the language to all 16 bills," Hester said, adding the omnibus will be "north of a 1,500 page bill." He said the omnibus would sit for another week and then be run in the House so legislators and stakeholders have time to review the changes.
The committee chair opened the meeting and asked members to adopt the committee rules; a motion and second were made and the rules were adopted by voice vote (roll call not recorded in the transcript).
Members discussed how the committee should handle review. Hester suggested the committee could debate the omnibus by section over multiple hearings. "We have not discussed what order they will be in," he said in response to a question about keeping the sections in the numerical order currently filed, and he said he would "talk to BLR about that." Hester also said BLR would provide legislators with a third copy showing the edits so members can more easily see what has changed from the bills they have already been reviewing.
One member urged the committee to treat each of the roughly 15 new departments as separate sections for special-order consideration so media and stakeholders can be notified and invited to testify; another member said they prefer taking items in the same order they were filed in the House because that is how they have been reviewing the materials.
The meeting concluded after members agreed to give notice about which bills would be discussed in future sessions. No formal votes on any of the reorganization bills were taken during this meeting; the committee expects to schedule hearings on the sections in the weeks ahead.
