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Senate Government Operations committee reexamines H.907 reporting changes, seeks DPS and OEO input
Summary
The committee reviewed H.907, which converts or repeals multiple agency reporting requirements; members objected to repealing a law-enforcement drone-use report and debated whether consolidated temporary-employee data can be obtained from an open-data portal rather than a statutory report. The committee agreed to seek testimony from DPS and OEO and to consider adding weatherization metrics to the bill.
The Senate Committee on Government Operations on March 24 reopened consideration of H.907, a bill that would change how multiple state reports are handled, including converting some reports into budget testimony and repealing others. Chair Oliver said legislative counsel Tucker Anderson and outside witnesses would help the committee probe whether the proposed changes would weaken legislative oversight.
Anderson told the committee he had checked the reports database and "I was able to confirm that it was filed 1 time in 2011," and that some session-law reporting language is being codified elsewhere in the bill. He said the Treasurer's local investment advisory committee report remains permanently required in the House-passed text (section 19), but the House proposed repealing the annual law-enforcement drone-use report (listed for repeal on page 15 of the circulated materials).
Committee members pressed on whether repealing the drone report would remove information the legislature needs. Anderson described the current statutory schedule: by Sept. 1 each year, any law-enforcement agency that used a drone must report how the device was used to the Department of Public Safety (DPS); by December, DPS consolidates agency submissions and provides that consolidation to the General Assembly. Several senators said they wanted DPS to testify so the committee could evaluate whether those consolidated filings are complete and timely.
Members also queried the bill's treatment of temporary-employee reporting. Anderson said H.907 removes the consolidated Department of Human Resources temporary-employee report (section 2) but leaves certain agency-specific reports in place (the judiciary report remains permanently required, and the Department of Corrections report was removed from the bill and so remains in effect). One lawmaker pointed out that the state's open-data portal provides downloadable temporary-employee data (job title, department, pay type, date ranges), and Anderson said committees and the public can request that information, although it may require a public-records request depending on volume.
Senators raised a broader oversight concern: if committees stop receiving routine statutory reports, will the Legislature lose persistent, comparable data needed for performance accountability of contracts and grants? Anderson noted committees retain investigatory authority and may demand written reports or issue subpoenas, but some members said that rarely happens in practice and warned against assuming ad hoc data requests replace regular reports.
The committee did not pass any motions during the session. Members directed staff to invite the Department of Public Safety to testify on the drone-use consolidation and to invite the Office of Economic Opportunity and other relevant agencies if the committee decides to retain or expand reporting requirements tied to specific programs. Chair Oliver said the panel will reconvene Thursday to continue work on H.907 and related items.
The committee flagged specific next steps: schedule DPS testimony, ask members of the House Government Operations committee for the chart that tracks their recommendations, and decide whether to add targeted data requirements to budget testimony or to unrepeal particular report text so the Legislature continues to receive structured reporting.
