House committee advances multiple bills including geothermal reuse, contract oversight and agency renaming

A House committee met in session and gave favorable committee reports on several bills affecting state governance, energy and administrative housekeeping.

Senator Albritton presented SB174 to allow previously drilled and capped state-owned oil-and-gas holes to be re-opened for injection and extraction of water, steam and hot brine for power generation, with oversight placed under the oil and gas board and state leases administered by DNCR. The sponsor said the measure does not authorize additional drilling or alter existing infrastructure but would permit state leasing of the sites for energy production. The committee voted to give SB174 a favorable report.

The committee also advanced SP39, a reapportionment-appointments bill that would shift appointment authority for senate appointees to the Senate pro tem in a manner similar to the Speaker's authority for the House; the panel approved the bill on a voice vote.

Senator Cavan explained SB40 would add a third option for the contract review committee: in addition to approving a contract or delaying it for up to 45 days, committee members could formally recommend the governor not sign the contract. The sponsor described the recommendation as nonbinding and consistent with separation-of-powers limits; the committee approved the measure.

Sponsors also presented SP206, an annual codification and cleanup bill, and SB200 to rename the Office of Minority Affairs to the Office of Civic Engagement and broaden its scope; both received favorable reports from the committee.

The committee's actions were taken by voice votes and were described by the chair as committee-level favor reports to move each measure forward to the next procedural step.