Committee approves changes to Ag-in-the-Classroom board appointments to address chronic quorum problems

The Legislative Administration Committee approved a replace-all amendment (13-03) to the Ag-in-the-Classroom bill to alter board composition and appointment procedures after the Department's commissioner described sustained problems filling seats.

Commissioner Sean Jasper told the panel that, under current law, nominees are often not provided by organizations and the governor’s office has not forwarded appointees, leaving the board frequently without a quorum. "We can't get people to be nominated by the various organizations ... we still have a hard time getting a quorum last year," he said, describing problems at annual meetings and resignations that left the board unable to act.

The amendment gives the committee the ability to appoint additional members so the board can function, and removes the governor's appointment role for one seat that the commissioner said was not necessary. Committee members asked whether remote participation helps and discussed quorum history; the commissioner confirmed remote participation exists but that vacancies still hamper operations.

The committee voted to approve the replace-all amendment by voice vote. Chair then proceeded to consider two other related amendments that add ceremonial recognition provisions and an effective-date technical fix that were also adopted by the panel during the same order-of-business.

The committee did not record a roll-call count in the transcript for the replace-all motion; the chair incorporated the approved amendment into the bill text and moved subsequent technical fixes.