The House Committee on State Affairs

80th Legislature

April 11, 2007

upon final adjourn./recess

Desk #9

 

Pursuant to an announcement from the house floor on April 11, 2007, the House Committee on State Affairs met in a formal meeting and was called to order by the chair, Representative Swinford, at 7:48 p.m.

 

The roll was answered as follows:

 

Present:              Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Flynn; Parker (5).

 

Absent:              Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron; Farrar; Veasey (4).

 

A quorum was present.

 

HB 1039

 

The chair laid out HB 1039 as pending business.

 

(Representative Farrar now present.)

 

Representative Paxton moved that HB 1039, without amendments, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Farrar; Flynn; Parker (6).

 

Nays:                             None (0).

 

Present, Not Voting:     None (0).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron; Veasey (3).

 

HB 1517

 

The chair laid out HB 1517 as pending business.

 

Representative Swinford offered a complete committee substitute.

 

The committee substitute was adopted without objection.

 

Representative Christian moved that HB 1517, as substituted, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Farrar; Flynn; Parker (6).

 

Nays:                             None (0).

 

Present, Not Voting:     None (0).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron; Veasey (3).

 

HJR 19

 

The chair laid out HJR 19.

 

(Representative Veasey now present.)

 

Representative Parker offered a complete committee substitute.

 

The committee substitute was adopted without objection.

 

Representative Parker moved that HJR 19, as substituted, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Flynn; Parker; Veasey (6).

 

Nays:                             None (0).

 

Present, Not Voting:     Representative Farrar (1).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron (2).

 

Statement of Vote

 

Representative Farrar added the following statement to the minutes.

 

"Although I applaud the effort to take steps towards open and transparent government, I don't believe that the actions taken within the House Committee on State Affairs work towards those goals.  Instead, I believe the proposal of requiring record votes on third reading is disingenuous when real disclosure would be to provide record votes on second reading, as is current practice.

For these reasons, I voted PNV on HJR 19.

 

"Most of the real action on a bill occurs during its second reading because the process for amending legislation requires only a simple majority.  On third reading, a 2/3 vote is required.  The higher hurdle makes it so that very few amendments at all are offered at that time.  Consequently, most of the debate occurs on the second reading of bills.  I feel it's important for the public to be able to access the record votes of those amendments, amendments to the amendments, and motions to table to see what the House and their state representative is really doing on a piece of legislation.  Often, these votes carry significant importance.  The ability to view these record votes provides a true level of transparency.

 

"Additionally, the ability to review second reading votes provides an opportunity to the public to provide input into the process before the final vote on legislation on third reading.  Upon second reading of a proposed bill, a constituent still has the opportunity to express support, opposition, or language to amend the bill before the final vote on third reading usually the following day.  Otherwise, just knowing the voting record of the final bill doesn't afford the public that opportunity.

 

"Finally, legislation to require posting of record votes on third reading goes against current practice.  Though the House voted in its House Rules during the first week of Session to require posting on the internet of third reading record votes, the legislative website now offers record votes on both second and third readings.  Proposed legislation should reflect current practice, since obviously the technology is already available.  My concern is that putting into statute a reduced requirement than what is current practice could allow retrogression in the future to the proposed statute requirement of only third reading vote disclosure since the House would only be legally obligated to provide for posting of third reading votes.  For all these reasons, I support legislation requiring the current practice of posting second and third reading record votes on the internet.  Anything less sells both the public and the legislative process short."

 

SB 178

 

The chair laid out SB 178, which is the companion to HB 1077.

 

Representative Paxton moved that SB 178, without amendments, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Flynn; Parker; Veasey (6).

 

Nays:                             Representative Farrar (1).

 

Present, Not Voting:     None (0).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron (2).

 

HB 1039

 

The chair moved to reconsider the vote by which the measure was reported from committee. The motion to reconsider prevailed without objection.

 

Representative Veasey moved that HB 1039, without amendments, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Farrar; Flynn; Parker; Veasey (7).

 

Nays:                             None (0).

 

Present, Not Voting:     None (0).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron (2).

 

HB 1517

 

The chair moved to reconsider the vote by which the measure was reported from committee. The motion to reconsider prevailed without objection.

 

Representative Paxton moved that HB 1517, as substituted, be reported favorably to the full house with the recommendation that it do pass and be printed. The motion prevailed by the following record vote:

 

Ayes:                             Representatives Swinford; Paxton; Christian; Farrar; Flynn; Parker; Veasey (7).

 

Nays:                             None (0).

 

Present, Not Voting:     None (0).

 

Absent:                          Representatives Van Arsdale; Cook, Byron (2).

 

At 7:58 p.m., on the motion of the chair and without objection, the meeting was adjourned subject to the call of the chair.

 

 

________________________

Rep. Swinford, Chair

 

 

________________________

Allison Scott, Clerk