Chair delays review of S.223 after legislative counsel unable to join meeting

The Chair of the Natural Resources & Energy committee said the panel would delay substantive review of S.223 on Wednesday after legislative counsel were unable to join an initial walkthrough, and members agreed to reconvene at 9:15 a.m. for a counsel-led briefing.

The committee opened the meeting and the Chair identified S.223 as the primary item on the agenda, calling it a study bill. The Chair told attendees that a side-by-side comparison of the draft had been circulated to staff and that members could follow a digital or hard-copy version while waiting for counsel. ``We were not able to get our legislative counsel to join us today,'' the Chair said, noting staff had forwarded the side-by-side document to committee contacts.

The Chair also flagged a recently added provision in the draft, describing it as "like some weapons certification" and saying the change appeared tied to an analyst-issued report. The Chair presented that description as a reason to pause the review until counsel could clarify the new language and its implications for the measure.

Committee members and staff coordinated document delivery and confirmed they could see the shared materials. Given the counsel's absence, the Chair proposed a short recess and a reconvening time: "We're waiting till 09:15, for our legislative counsel to do a walk through of S.223," the Chair said.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the opening exchange. The committee recessed briefly with plans to resume when legislative counsel could provide the requested walkthrough and clarification of the newly added draft section.