Committee adopts amendment to make petition papers public, favorably reports Senate Bill 63

The House General Government Committee on a voice- and roll-call record adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 63 and then voted to favorably report the bill.

Vice Chair LaRae moved adoption of amendment AM136-seventeen 50 three-one, saying the change "clarifies that petition papers are considered public records" and removes a provision limiting inspection to a narrow pre-election window. Representative Russo objected to the motion and asked whether elections officials had been consulted on an expedited timeline and whether boards of elections might charge fees for providing hard-copy copies, calling potential costs a "cost burden." Chair Wray responded that her local board "does not charge a fee for copying the petitions" and that she had been allowed to inspect petitions in person but that some boards declined to make copies because the statute was unclear.

After discussion the committee took a roll-call vote on the amendment; Chair Wray announced, "With 9 affirmative votes and 3 negative votes, the amendment is adopted." The committee then voted 9-3 to favorably report Senate Bill 63 and asked Legislative Service Commission to harmonize the adopted amendment into the bill. Chair Wray closed the fourth hearing of SB63.

The committee did not record changes to the bill's substantive policy in committee other than the adopted clarification about petition papers and left procedural follow-up to staff for statutory harmonization and implementation details about the public-inspection timeline and copying costs.

What happens next: LSC will harmonize the amendment into the bill as requested by the chair; the committee left the roll open for one hour after adjournment per committee practice.