Chair refers multiple governor letters to subcommittees, sets aggressive schedule for next week

The Chair called the meeting to order and said the intent was mainly to refer governor and agency letters to the appropriate subcommittees, with any letters not referred to be placed on next Tuesday's agenda, the Chair said.

Committee members proceeded through Item B (reports and communications from agencies) and Item C (governor's letters), identifying multiple letters that either "contain positions" and were referred to personnel or that include "special language" and were referred to the special language subcommittee. Committee member (first speaker after the Chair) named an auditor letter, a request from the supreme court, and a letter from the Lieutenant Governor among the items referred to personnel. The group also put governor's letters involving the Department of Finance and Administration, Department of Corrections and several Department of Human Services offices to either personnel or special language review, depending on whether the letter contained positions or special legislative language.

The committee member who read the list repeatedly specified which referral was requested (personnel or special language) for each governor letter. For example, the committee member said governor's letter No. 4 for the Department of Education (AETN) "contains positions" and the Chair directed it to personnel; governor's letter No. 7 for the Department of Finance and Administration (dispersing officer) "contains special language" and was directed to special language. Similar instructions applied to letters for Health, DHS aging, county operations, developmental disabilities and the DHS secretary's office, among others.

The Chair closed the session by outlining next week's schedule: Personnel will meet Tuesday and Wednesday at 8:00 a.m.; JBC will meet Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00 a.m.; and Claims and Peer Review will convene upon adjournment of JBC. "It's gonna be a very aggressive agenda next week. Lots of fun stuff to work through," the Chair said. With no further business, the Chair adjourned the meeting.

The meeting made no formal votes recorded in the transcript and took no policy actions beyond referring letters to subcommittees and confirming the schedule for next week.