House committee debates Senate amendment on solicitation at correctional facility parking lots

A state House committee met Tuesday to consider a Senate amendment to S230 that would require the commissioner of corrections and the Department of Buildings and General Services to meet about solicitation in correctional facility parking lots. Sarah Clark, the secretary of administration, told the committee that the required meeting had already taken place and that the executive branch prefers to convene such discussions without legislative direction.

"The language requiring a meeting has actually already heard," Clark said, adding later, "Essentially, we don't need the legislature to tell us because that's that is what we do." She told lawmakers she understood the union had requested the language.

Committee members pressed for details about what was being solicited and who was doing the soliciting. "What solicitation are we trying to stop?" a member asked; Clark said Commissioner Murad of the Department of Corrections would be better positioned to answer. When another member cited incidents in parking lots, they declined to name groups or provide detailed testimony during the hearing.

Lawmakers debated three procedural options: refuse to concur and request a conference, refuse to concur and send a further instance of amendment back to the Senate to remove the solicitation paragraph, or concur so the bill proceeds to the House floor. The chair argued that, because of tight scheduling and the risk that a returned amendment could get delayed in the Senate, the committee should concur to avoid jeopardizing the remainder of the bill. "I think we should concur," the chair said during the discussion.

Several members said they preferred preparing a further instance of amendment to remove the solicitation language, citing a Buildings and General Services memo saying the provision was unnecessary and noting that the relevant agencies and the VSEA had already held a productive conversation. One member argued simply to concur, saying, "they have already met" and that time was short.

There was no formal vote during the session. The committee agreed to reconvene at 11 a.m. after the floor to allow the chair to consult with Senator Clarkson and to give members a short window to gather additional information before deciding whether to concur or return an amendment to the Senate.

The committee also noted other pending measures that affect scheduling and workload, including references to bills numbered 775 and 328, but those matters were left for later consideration. The panel recessed with a plan to return at 11 a.m. for a final vote on S230.