Senate Judiciary Committee permits limited technical bill fixes, adopts rules and sets hearing schedule

At an organizational meeting, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to permit committee staff to make limited technical corrections to bills and adopted the committee rules for the session, the chair announced.

Chairman Stowolfill asked members to review the rules and to identify any concerns before a vote. Senator Alan Clark moved to allow technical corrections — defined by Clark as punctuation or changes of one to three words intended to fix typographical or non-substantive errors. "It saves people a week, just to fix it, and be able to move on," Clark said. Bart Hester seconded the motion.

Senator Flowers cautioned against allowing word changes without notice, saying such edits could "significantly change a bill" and would be contrary to transparency. The committee parliamentarian had advised against permitting any verbal amendments, the chair said; members debated the scope of permissible edits before proceeding.

The motion to permit limited technical corrections carried on a voice vote; the committee then voted to adopt the rules as amended, and the chair stated the motion carried. The transcript records voice votes but does not provide a roll-call tally.

Chairman Stowolfill announced the committee will begin hearing bills on Monday at 10:00 a.m. and will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays; agendas will be posted two days before each meeting so the public can see which bills will be considered.

The organizational meeting concluded with the chair adjourning until the committee's first bill hearing.