Two county-backed bills move forward after motion to withdraw fails

The Washington County delegation voted on whether to withdraw two county-backed measures — proposed tax-sale alterations and a disabled-veterans bill — but the motion to withdraw failed, allowing the measures to proceed based on the prior vote.

The chair told members the delegation had received letters from the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) opposing the two bills and said the letters must be sent to the relevant legislative committees. An unidentified member moved to reconsider the earlier vote, saying "I think the understanding was that the commissioners did support it," and argued for a revote because that understanding proved incorrect.

The delegation then considered a motion to withdraw the bills. After members voiced their positions, the motion failed; multiple members recorded "nay" votes, including Baker, Ballantyne and Schindler, and the chair stated, "So that motion fails. So the bills would move forward then based on the original vote unless we wanna vote them again." The chair also noted the BOCCs opposition and asked whether that changed any members views, indicating the letters were to be provided to the committees.

The chair later questioned why the BOCC had opposed the disabled-veterans bill, saying the local bill used the same language the state adopted last year "in referencing the US code as far as the definition of a veteran," and that he was uncertain how the commissioners had been briefed.

Members said they will in future seek explicit confirmation from the BOCC before advancing county-specific items. The chair said staff had requested BOCC votes on items last week and that the delegation would ensure those confirmations going forward.

The delegation did not record an exact numeric tally in the transcript for the withdrawing motion; recorded individual opposing votes included Baker, Ballantyne and Schindler. The chair said the bills will proceed on the earlier vote unless members take further action.