Budget committee advances bill to shrink oversight panel and add post‑implementation fiscal reviews

The House Budget Committee voted 25–1 to advance a House Committee substitute to Senate Bill 1470 after adopting the substitute in executive session and then voting the substitute "do pass." Chair Deaton moved both the adoption of the substitute and the subsequent "do pass" motion.

The substitute would reduce the membership of the Joint Committee on Legislative Research from 20 members to 12 and add a mechanism for post‑implementation fiscal notes — a review two years after a law takes effect to compare projected fiscal impacts with actual results. Chair Deaton said the change aims to modernize the committee’s work and improve oversight in an era of term limits: "The biggest, I would say, changes that's significant in my mind... are the composition of the committee going from 20 to 12," he said, adding the goal is to increase engagement and accountability among members.

Sponsor Representative Kupps, who worked with the chair on the substitute, urged the committee to support measures that let oversight check earlier fiscal work. She cited prior fiscal‑note errors as rationale for post‑implementation reviews: "...he caught a, what, 200 some million dollar error?" she said, describing a past discovery by fiscal review that underlined the need for independent verification.

The substitute also creates a framework allowing the LR director and authorized LR employees limited access to Department of Revenue tax data for the purpose of preparing and checking fiscal notes, subject to an oath of confidentiality and criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure. Representative Kupps and other members emphasized that committee members themselves would not have access to individual returns; the statute cited in the discussion (referred to in the hearing as section 23 1 56) requires confidentiality and prescribes penalties for misuse.

Several members raised procedural and privacy concerns. Representative Maguire said he supports the intent but questioned whether a smaller committee would fix recurring quorum problems and noted he would withhold a planned amendment while seeking clarifications for floor debate. Representative Hyde asked how individual returns would be used and stressed the need to protect taxpayer privacy. Chair Deaton responded that he would follow up with the Department of Revenue to confirm any federal‑law or statutory constraints and address issues on the floor if necessary: "I committed to you to following up with DOR... and if that becomes clear that that is an issue, we certainly will address it on the floor."

Members also discussed striking a provision that had barred nonpartisan LR employees from opposing or urging legislation; the chair described that change as cleanup tied to the office’s evolving role (LR no longer drafts most bills) and reiterated the expectation that LR staff remain nonpartisan.

The committee first adopted the House Committee substitute by voice vote, with the chair declaring "the ayes have it," and then conducted a roll‑call vote on the substitute as the motion to "do pass." The chair announced the final tally as 25 yes, 1 no; Representative Mayhew was recorded as the lone no. The chair said the committee had concluded its business and adjourned.

If enacted, the bill’s immediate changes — membership reduction and the new post‑implementation review process — would shift how legislative fiscal oversight is conducted; members repeatedly framed the measure as an effort to modernize processes and improve the accuracy of fiscal information used in policy decisions. The committee left dissemination and publication procedures for post‑implementation fiscal notes to future committee action, saying the substitute does not prescribe a specific method for sharing those reviews.