Committee OKs ballot measure to limit narrow governor-called special-session proclamations

Representatives Luck and Garcia asked the committee to send House Concurrent Resolution 1006 to the ballot. The proposed constitutional clarification would allow a governor to convene the legislature on a specified subject but would bar proclamations so narrowly framed that they effectively prescribe a single outcome for legislative action. Sponsors said recent special-session proclamations have sometimes listed narrowly defined items that left little room for legislative deliberation.

Representative Luck noted historical practice and argued the change would preserve the separation of powers: "The business especially named in the proclamation may limit the General Assembly's consideration to a specific area of a general subject, but must not limit the General Assembly's consideration so narrowly as to restrict the possible outcomes." Representative Garcia, who has carried bills in special sessions, said breadth matters for collaboration and for allowing competing ideas to be considered.

Supporters across the committee said the proposal simply asks voters whether the governor should be prevented from issuing ultra-narrow calls that force the legislature to rubber-stamp a pre-set solution. Opponents asked whether case law already limits executive overreach; sponsors responded that codifying the principle in the constitution gives clearer notice to future governors and reduces incentives to narrow calls to preordain outcomes.

The committee voted 10-1 to send the measure to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation, clearing the way for a potential ballot referral.

Why it matters: If approved by voters, the change would change how future governors are allowed to shape the subject matter of special-session proclamations; it is aimed at protecting the legislature's deliberative role.

Vote: Passed in committee 10-1 to send to the Committee of the Whole.