Committee urges formal caucus‑fund rules: approval workflows, logs, budgets, reconciliations

Committee members unanimously endorsed a package of recommended best practices for managing caucus funds intended to prevent future mismanagement. Representative Soper presented a six‑point proposal covering a formal approval workflow for reimbursements and direct spending, expense logs with dates/vendors/purposes and receipts, quarterly budgets available to caucus members, dues-collection and follow-up systems, monthly bank reconciliations, and written plans and inventory for caucus purchases; Representative Mabry seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Christy Chase of the Office of Legislative Legal Services said committees in prior matters have sometimes made non‑punitive recommendations of this nature and that the committee can include those recommendations in its final report to leadership. The chair told the committee that adopting these practices is aimed at "preventing this from happening again and restoring trust in the process."