Legislative staff present updated electronic-participation policy for joint committees as HB 1068 awaits governor action

Deputy Director Christie Chase of the Office of Legislative Legal Services told the Executive Committee the committee-sponsored update to its remote-participation policy would extend clarified rules to joint committees that include members of both chambers while explicitly excluding conference committees. She said the change responds to a newly enacted bill and a desire to align session rules with existing chamber policies.

"The bill was signed and sent to the governor on March 17, and, he has till this Friday to act on that bill," Chase said, describing the bill (referred to in the meeting as House Bill 1068) as the statutory backdrop for the policy change. Chase said the policy applies year-round to committees composed of members from both chambers, except conference committees, and that it does not change each chamber’s separate rules for committees of reference.

Under the proposed update, members may participate remotely during session only if they meet specified conditions — such as caring for a new child, caring for a sick individual, or being ill themselves — and must request permission through the committee chair. Chase said the chair would have discretion to grant permission for other good causes and that, where a member already has chamber-level permission to participate remotely for a legislative day, that permission would carry over to joint committee meetings on the same day.

The draft preserves operational rules for remote participants: they will be marked present, count toward quorum, may vote, must keep their camera on, and must use a microphone when voting; if their connection drops at the time of a vote, the chair may mark them excused. Chase also said staff made the policy’s platform references more generic to avoid naming a single video platform; one embedded reference to "Zoom" remained in section 4.1 and will be updated.

Members asked whether the policy should prescribe a standardized form to track remote-participation requests. Chase said the present draft does not require a form but that one could easily be developed and need not be embedded in policy language. The clerk noted that if the governor signs House Bill 1068 this week the committee could set an effective date soon after, and members discussed minor edits (removing the remaining platform-specific reference and adding language or a form if the committee prefers).

The committee did not vote on the policy during this meeting. Chase said staff will make the minor technical edits discussed and can draft an optional form for committee consideration; the bill cited in the discussion remains pending with the governor.