Government Operations & Military Affairs committee finds amendment to H917 favorable, removes Gold Star family definition and plate provision

The Government Operations & Military Affairs committee voted to find an amendment to H917 favorable that removes proposed provisions related to Gold Star families, the committee chair announced.

Representative Sundin, who spoke for the amendment, said the proposed Gold Star language had been part of the underlying bill but that members and stakeholders disagreed about how to define Gold Star family members, particularly whether the definition should include service‑connected relatives. "I don't think that should happen on the floor just because of the sensitive nature of it," Representative Sundin said, urging the committee to strip that language and continue discussions at a later time.

Sophie Sedatole of the Office of Legislative Council summarized the amendment's effect. "This simply just removes the two sections that dealt with Gold Star families. That first one was the definition and the second one was to do with the license plates," she said, adding that the rest of H917 would remain intact.

A committee member asked whether deleting those sections would remove the protections entirely or revert the law to current practice. Sedatole responded that the new Section 40 — a proposed addition that would have added a definition of "Gold Star family member" to Title 1 — would be removed, while Section 41, the existing statute governing Gold Star family and next‑of‑kin license plates, would remain in place. Under the existing statute, eligibility follows federal definitions, Sedatole said.

Rep. Morgan endorsed the committee's approach, citing the collaborative process that produced the amendment. "I think in the end, we've done the right thing," Morgan said.

A committee member moved that the amendment be found favorable; the motion passed with a tally reported as 9 yes, 0 no and one member absent. Staff noted Representative Hooper was not present and asked to have his name removed from the committee roll for the vote paperwork.

Committee staff were directed to circulate the amendment paperwork to legislative staff (Sophie Sedatole was asked to send the materials to Betsy Ann and cc the requester). The chair closed committee business and reminded members that a busy floor session begins at 1:00 p.m.

The amendment will be processed by committee staff and, as described by legislative council, leaves existing statute governing Gold Star family and license‑plate eligibility intact while removing the two contested sections from H917.