Committee chair seeks small working group on S71 data-privacy bill, urges caution on CTE governance overhaul

The committee chair opened the April 2 meeting by saying the Commerce & Economic Development committee will convene a small working group to advance S71, a data-privacy bill, with Senate members and stakeholders in hopes of narrowing differences before lengthy committee hearings. The chair said the effort is intended to “zero in on what the issues are and how we can” resolve them without taking up weeks of testimony.

Members also discussed S313, the U CTE bill, and emphasized that choosing a governance model for a statewide CTE system is premature without clearer cost estimates. The chair and several members said they will invite staff from the Joint Fiscal Office (Julia and Ezra were named by members) and legislative council to provide financial analysis and other information ahead of decisions.

“It's hard for us to...come up with a governance system without knowing what the costs are going to be,” the chair said, adding that cost estimates likely will not be available until December and that a working group this summer and fall could help refine options and questions for witnesses.

Committee members asked staff to compile specific questions and evidence the working group should address so that future testimony is focused. Members pointed to misalignment between proposed district mapping and existing CTE service areas as a specific technical concern that the working group should examine.

The chair said the aim is to avoid wholesale structural change before the committee understands fiscal and operational consequences, and proposed rulemaking and a phased legislative approach as alternative paths this year and into next session.

Next steps: the committee will assemble the working group next week, invite JFO and legislative council staff for briefings, and schedule additional testimony from named witnesses (Kelly and Katrina were mentioned) to continue developing options for CTE governance.