Senate subcommittee gives due pass to bill to create permanent staffed health and human services committee

Senator Thompson introduced House Bill 287 in a brief Senate rules committee meeting, saying, "This bill is to create a permanent staffed legislative health and human services committee." Thompson said most committee members understand the need and that he had LFC staff pull spending numbers showing $14,400,000,000 spent on health and human services in fiscal year 2025.

Committee members asked about funding and logistics. A member asked whether money was included in House Bill 2; Thompson replied that money for interim expenses is included in House Bill 1 and that implementation is planned for Jan. 1. Thompson said the next steps include drafting a job description for a director and slowly building staff.

Members also raised practical concerns about office space for district legislative aides and Legislative Council staff. One member said space is a "huge issue" given recent additions of district legislative aides and said the legislature has not provided adequate space for Legislative Council, hampering recruitment. Thompson acknowledged space would be an issue but said it should not prevent the committee from performing its duties and suggested interim creative solutions until an executive office building can move staff out of current legislative space.

A motion for a second pass was made on the bill; after no objections the chair announced a due pass. There was no recorded roll-call tally in the transcript beyond the chair's statement that members present voted in the affirmative.

The meeting concluded with brief announcements and recognition of long-serving staff.