Wyoming Legislature

Committee Meeting Summary of Proceedings

Management Council

Council Meeting Information

September 7, 2004

Holiday Inn

Cody, Wyoming

Council Members Present

Representative Fred Parady, Chairman

Senator April Brimmer Kunz, Vice Chairman

Senator Gerald Geis

Senator Keith Goodenough

Senator Rae Lynn Job (joined by conference call)

Senator Grant Larson

Senator Jayne Mockler

Senator John Schiffer

Representative Rodney “Pete” Anderson

Representative Tom Lockhart

Representative Wayne Reese

Representative Ann Robinson

Council Members Absent

Senator Irene Devin

Legislative Service Office Staff

Dan J. Pauli, Director

Mark Quiner, Assistant Director

Dave Nelson, School Finance Manager

Mary Byrnes, Senior Research Analyst

Wendy K. Madsen, Legislative Information Officer

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Council Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

Call To Order

Chairman Parady called the meeting to order at 10:08 a.m..  The following sections summarize the Council proceedings by topic.  Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Council Meeting Agenda.

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the June 4, 2004 and July 17, 2004 Council meetings were approved without any changes. 

Administrative Rules

Victim’s Services Division Rules:  Program Standards

The Council discussed rules that are currently being promulgated by the Division of Victim Services in the Attorney General’s Office.  The draft rules relate to the administration of state victim services funds and the creation of a formula to determine the allocation of state funds available to each county.  Chairman Parady noted in reviewing the rules in the context of legislative intent that issues have arisen regarding the equitable distribution of funds and the prescriptive nature of the rules.  Senator Job, Attorney General Pat Crank and Victim Services Division Administrator Julie Tenet Burt joined this portion of the Council’s meeting by conference call. 

Lisa Velker of Crisis Intervention Services in Cody and Chesie Lee of the Converse County Coalition Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault addressed the Council and provided letters to the Council regarding the proposed rules (see Appendix 3 and 4).  After Council discussion raising concern regarding inequities in the funding formula and program standards, Chairman Parady suggested that the Attorney General’s Office extend the emergency rules and meet with an informal working group composed of Senator Schiffer, Senator Job, Representative Edwards, and Representative Luthi to address funding and administrative issues raised by the Council.  Mr. Gruver advised that emergency rules cannot extend beyond 240 days total, and Chairman Parady noted that the group will only have a short period of time to resolve these issues. 

Seed Lab Fees

Mr. Pauli updated the Council regarding concerns raised over whether the State Seed Laboratory, operated by the State Board of Agriculture, needed to promulgate rules to adopt a price list for seed analysis.  He explained that the Board of Agriculture is planning to proceed with formal rulemaking on this issue and is in the process of adopting the current fee schedule as emergency rules.   The Council took no action on this issue. 

Update on Interim Committee Work

At its July meeting, the Council requested that information be prepared on the status of interim committee work to facilitate a discussion of the possible assignment of new study topics or reallocation of committee work.  The Council received updates on the progress of interim committee work and re-referred a number of topics to different committees as noted below. 

Select Committee on School Facilities

Representative Baker, Co-Chairman of the Select School Facilities Committee addressed the Council requesting the Council clarify the role of the Select Committee regarding the issue of community facilities.  Representative Baker explained that the Select Committee has been working on the matter of school district enhancements to school facilities and the separation of community recreational facilities from facilities necessary to deliver the educational program.  He noted that community recreational facilities can include not only school district facilities, but also many other community facility and infrastructure needs.    

Senator Mockler noted that the community enhancement section of the Business Ready Communities Program is intended to address these types of community needs and the Business Ready Communities Program is within the jurisdiction of the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee.  After Council discussion, Senator Kunz moved that the topic of community facilities be referred to the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee and not be within the jurisdictional authority of the Select School Facilities Committee.  Senator Larson requested an amendment to the motion to include that the Committee include analysis of funding options for such a proposal, if the Committee elects to study the issue.  The motion carried.  The Council agreed that the Joint Minerals Committee is not required to study the issue or to develop legislation on this topic, but rather the Committee has the discretion to review this issue and take testimony if it elects to consider the topic. 

Select Committee to Study Elected Officials Issues

The Council discussed the tasks of the Select Committee to Study Elected Officials Issues.  Senator Mockler explained that the issue of the functions of the State Building Commission was discussed by the Select Committee.  She noted that the issue has arisen of whether funding for state facilities should be decided by the State Building Commission or if that function should be transferred to the Governor.  The Select Committee recommended that the issue be referred for consideration by the Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments, because the Committee is familiar with the mechanisms of funding state buildings.   Senator Kunz moved that the issue be referred to the Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments.  The motion carried.  Representative Luthi moved that the issue of the duties of the State Superintendent and the State Board of Education be removed from the Select Committee to Study Elected Officials and be referred to the Joint Education Committee, to be reviewed to the extent to be determined by the co-chairmen of the Committee.  The motion passed. 

Wyoming Health Care Commission

The Council discussed the work of the Wyoming Health Care Commission and Council members agreed that it is important for members of the Legislature to attend the Commission’s meetings.  Senator Schiffer moved to authorize the Co-chairmen of the Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee or their designees to attend meetings of the Wyoming Health Care Commission and to receive mileage and per diem for their attendance.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Legislator Compensation Study:  Appointment of Subcommittee

At the end of the 2004 Budget Session, the Council assigned itself the study of legislator compensation.  Chairman Parady appointed a subcommittee of Senators Larson and Mockler and Representatives Luthi and Reese to consider the issue of legislator compensation and to develop a proposal for consideration by the full Council at a subsequent meeting.  He appointed Senator Larson and Representative Luthi to serve as co-chairmen of the subcommittee. 

Approval of Consultant Contract Recommended by
Select Committee on Developmental Programs

The Council considered a request from the Select Committee on Developmental Programs to approve hiring a study consultant (see Appendix 10.)  Legislation approved during the 2004 Budget Session that created the Select Committee on Developmental Programs provided for a $250,000 appropriation to the LSO to study the costs of providing developmental health and educational services to qualifying preschool children in the state.  The Committee issued a request for proposals to solicit bids from consultants to conduct the study.  The Committee received four proposals and after presentations from the bidders recommended the Legislature contract with Dr. Linda Goetze of the Early Intervention Research Institute within Utah State University.  Representative Luthi asked about the possibility of using an in-state contractor.  Senator Job responded that the Utah State bidder appears to have the greatest number of analytic tools to review all of the variables for this study.  Senator Schiffer moved to approve the Select Committee’s recommendation for a consultant.  The motion passed unanimously. 

The Council also discussed the amount of LSO research staff time to staffing this committee.  LSO research staff member Don Richards provided the Council with some background information on selected research staff priorities (see Appendix 11).  Senator Larson recommended that Mr. Richards continue to provide staffing services to the Select Committee on Developmental Programs given the importance and complexity of the issue, but cautioned this responsibility may reduce the number of requests that the research section can respond to from individual legislators.  He noted that as the new research function has evolved the focus of the function has changed and advised the Council to carefully consider future assignment of additional responsibilities to the research staff.  

Preliminary Planning for New Legislator School

The Council received information regarding initial planning for training of new members of the 58^th Wyoming Legislature.  LSO staff recommended holding the first training session from December 9-11, 2004 and the second session on January 7-8, 2005.  Staff suggested that faculty for the training include the presiding officer, majority floor leader and minority floor leader from each house, or their designees.  Faculty will recruit two or three volunteer “sophomore” legislators to participate in a panel discussion during the December session of the training.  The Council also considered reimbursement for new legislators and faculty to attend the training sessions, which would include mileage and four days per diem for each session for new members, while legislative faculty will receive mileage, salary, and per diem for those sessions.  Representative Anderson moved to approve the dates, faculty, and funding for the training.  The motion passed. 

Potential Constitutional Amendment Relating to Special Sessions

Mr. Pauli brought an issue to the Council’s attention regarding the constitutional requirement that provides that no bill appropriating money, except for a bill for the expenses of government, may be introduced within five days of the end of the session, except by unanimous consent.  Mr. Pauli noted that if the provision is applicable to special sessions it could mean that a special session involving the appropriation of funds for a special purpose not directly related to the ordinary operations of state government would need to last a minimum of six days.  He noted that LSO staff prepared a potential joint resolution for the Council’s consideration eliminating the time restriction on the introduction of bills for the appropriation of money during special sessions of the Legislature.  After consideration of the issue, the Council elected not to pursue an amendment at this time and laid the issue aside for potential consideration at a subsequent meeting. 

Other Business

Request for Committee Meeting Funding

Chairman Parady stated that the Joint Revenue Committee has requested an additional $2,500 be added to the Committee’s budget.  Co-chairman Senator Peck noted that the request is to fund subcommittee study of the issue of intangible property.  Representative Anderson moved to authorize the additional funding for the Committee.  The motion carried unanimously. 

Information Technology Survey of Legislators

The Council considered a request from the State’s Chief Information Officer, Larry Biggio, to survey state legislators to obtain their input regarding a state information technology plan.  Representative Luthi moved that the Department of Administration and Information may survey state legislators on this issue.  The motion passed unanimously. 

Executive Session

Chairman Parady resolved the Council into executive session at 12:20 p.m. to discuss issues related to potential school finance litigation.  The Council reconvened in an open session at 12:50 p.m.

Meeting Adjournment

Chairman Parady stated that the next meeting will be at the call of the chair, potentially to be held in conjunction with the new legislator orientation in December.  He noted that the Council may need to meet briefly in Casper before that date.  There being no further business, Chairman Parady adjourned the meeting at approximately 12:55 p.m..

Respectfully submitted,

Representative Randall Luthi, Secretary