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Committee adopts amendment clarifying utility liability and reports HB 329 out as amended
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Summary
HB 329 clarifies certificate‑of‑fitness exemptions so multi‑community utilities can use local labor; Representative Kerrick's amendment clarified that electric utilities, not municipal employers, bear liability for work performed under the statute; the committee adopted the amendment and reported the bill out as amended.
Representative Donna Mears and staff presented House Bill 329, which seeks to clarify statutory exemptions for certificates of fitness so that multi‑community utilities — for example Village Electric Cooperative models — can employ local personnel for grid maintenance in communities of fewer than 2,500 people.
Representative Kerrick moved Amendment #1 to explicitly clarify that the electric utility bears liability for work performed by qualified municipal or tribal employees under the bill; sponsor staff said the amendment simply reinforced current practice. The amendment was adopted without sustained objection.
Following discussion and lack of further objection, the committee then moved to report HB 329 out of committee as amended with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes.
The committee's action on HB 329 was procedural: the amendment was adopted and the bill was reported out of committee as amended; no additional substantive changes were recorded in this hearing.
