Committee approves amendment to S.255 adding reporting dates for Wyndham County pilot

Tim Devlin of the Legislative Council presented draft 1.2 of a committee amendment to Senate Bill 255 at the Government Operations & Military Affairs meeting on April 14. The amendment inserts an additional report date (September 30, 2030) alongside the originally contemplated December 31, 2030 deadline and specifies the content of the report: assessment of cost effectiveness, analysis of service quality improvements, evaluation of governance model effectiveness, recommendations on continuation/modification/expansion, and a proposed framework for statewide replication if warranted.

Committee members discussed the draft language and the chair said members had received the proposal over the weekend and generally found it amenable. A member moved the amendment; the clerk called the roll. The transcript records the following recorded votes as “yes”: Representative Boyden, Representative Coffin, Representative Hanger, Representative Cooper, Representative Neuja, Representative Hinsfeld and Representative Stone. Representative Morgan was noted as absent but familiar with the language and the committee agreed to report the bill on its behalf.

After the roll call the chair said the committee would send the information up to the clerk’s office and confirmed formal business for the day was concluded.

Why it matters: The amendment requires the pilot governance council to provide additional, earlier reporting so the committee can evaluate cost effectiveness and service quality and consider whether to replicate, modify or discontinue the pilot.

Next steps: The committee agreed to report the bill (with the committee’s proposed amendment) to the clerk for further processing.