Council
Meeting Information
June 2, 2006
UW Outreach
Building
951 N
Poplar
Casper,
Wyoming
Council
Members Present
Senator Grant Larson, Chairman
Representative Randall Luthi, Vice Chairman
Senator John Hines
Senator Mike Massie
Senator John Schiffer
Representative Ross Diercks
Representative Tom Lockhart
Representative Wayne Reese
Representative Ann Robinson
Representative Colin Simpson
Council
Members Absent
Senator Jim Anderson
Senator Rae Lynn Job
Representative Roy Cohee
Legislative
Service Office Staff
Dan J. Pauli, Director
Mark Quiner, Assistant Director
Don Richards, Senior Research Analyst
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 Larson called the meeting to order at 1:10 pm. The following sections summarize the Council proceedings by topic. Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Council Meeting Agenda.
Approval
of Minutes
Vice Chairman Luthi requested that the reference to "Mr. Brimmer" on page two of the minutes from the March 9, 2006 meeting be revised to accurately state "Ms. Brimmer." With that change, Representative Lockhart moved the minutes be approved. The motion was seconded and passed.
Administrative
Rules
Dan Pauli, LSO Director, reported that this agenda item was a place holder, however, no rules had been objected to by staff or removed from the consent list by any members of the Council and therefore no Council action is required.
Senator Hines noted that the rules from the Department of Revenue providing for the adoption of the statewide CAMA system may be of concern and, if so, could result in future issues being raised by constituents.
Chairman Larson noted that a number of agencies are not complying with the statutory requirement to state whether proposed rules meet or exceed minimum state statutory requirements when publishing new rules. Mr. Pauli provided background information to the Council regarding the current statute governing the creation of rules (W.S. 16-3-103) and the requirements of the Secretary of State's Rules on Rules. Vice Chairman Luthi moved that the Council request the Governor to direct all agencies to update their rulemaking procedures to comply with W.S. 16-3-103(a)(i)(G) and Appendix E, paragraph 11 of the Secretary of State's Rules on Rules. The motion was seconded and adopted unanimously.
Rules approved by postcard
ballot
Appendix 2.1 lists the Council's action on rules taken by mail ballot since the last meeting at which rules were considered.
Interim
Committee Supplemental Budget & Study Requests
The Council discussed a request by the Co-Chairmen of the Joint Revenue Interim Committee to add the veteran's property tax exemption as an additional interim study, without additional budget. (See Appendix 3 for a copy of the request from the Co-Chairmen.) Vice Chairman Luthi moved to approve the request. The motion was seconded and adopted.
The Council discussed a request by Representative Illoway, Co-Chairman of the Joint Corporations Interim Committee, to increase the Committee's budget by $5,000 in order to pay mileage and per diem for Committee members to attend the 2006 Wyoming Telecommunications Policy Forum, June 29-30, 2006 in Casper. (See Appendix 4 for a copy of the Forum Agenda.) The Council noted that this Committee was authorized similar expenditures last year, and discussed issues relating to the 2006 legislation, the potential use of constituent service allowance to meet individual member expenditures, and the industry sectors potentially represented and not represented at the Forum. Vice Chairman Luthi moved to approve the request, including the $5,000 increase in the Joint Corporation Committee's Budget. The motion was seconded and failed.
Representative Lockhart, Co-Chairman of the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committee requested that Management Council increase the Committee's budget by $2,000 to pay for mileage and per diem for five Committee members to attend the Western Conference of Public Utility Regulators on June 18th and 19th in Jackson. (See Appendix 5 for a copy of a letter from the Public Service Commission to the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee.) After some discussion, Representative Lockhart moved to adopt the proposal and increase the Committee's budget by $2,000. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Senator Schiffer moved that the Council assign the Joint Travel, Recreation and Wildlife Interim Committee to review the management plan for Fort Phil Kearny, the Fetterman Battlefield site, and Lake DeSmet access in Johnson and Sheridan counties, with no additional Committee funding. The motion was seconded and adopted.
Contract
– Publication of Wyoming Statutes
Chairman Larson indicated that the Council would resolve itself into executive session to hear presentations from each of the three respondents (Conway Greene Company, Thomson West, and LexisNexis) to the RFP to publish the Wyoming Statutes. Each presenter would have approximately 30 minutes to present, followed by questions by the Council. Chairman Larson noted that the final motion, if any, would be made in open session at the conclusion of the presentations. Management Council resolved itself into executive session to discuss the proposals at 1:35 p.m.
After reconvening in open session at approximately 5:00 p.m., Senator Schiffer moved that the Council select LexisNexis as the bidder with whom to initiate negotiations for the publication of the 2007 Code and the 2008 Supplement with the intent of selecting pricing option 2 as set out in the proposal. Senator Schiffer further moved that the director of the LSO be authorized on behalf of the Council to negotiate any of the terms and conditions of the contract resulting from the RFP including the acceptance or modification of any options or alternatives set out in the bidder's proposal as may appear to be in the best interest of the State, and that the director report the negotiated contract terms to the Council for final approval by postcard or e-mail ballot. The motion was seconded.
Representative Simpson moved to amend the motion to direct the LSO to discuss the publication, without charge, of the Wyoming Session Laws, subject to constitutional restrictions. Senator Schiffer agreed with and recognized Representative Simpson's motion as a friendly amendment.
Representative Simpson further moved to amend the motion to direct the LSO to negotiate an arrangement whereby an annotated version of the statutes is available free of charge on the Internet. Senator Schiffer agreed with and recognized the amendment as a friendly amendment.
Representative Lockhart moved to amend the motion to restrict the time for negotiations between LSO and LexisNexis to 30 days. Again, Senator Schiffer agreed with and viewed the proposal as a friendly, refining amendment to his motion.
After further discussion of the proposal, the amended motion passed with 6 in favor, 3 opposed and 4 absent. (See Appendix 6 for a copy of the roll call vote.)
Planning
– New Legislators School
Mr. Pauli discussed LSO staff's proposal to conduct New Legislator School training on November 30th through December 2nd and January 4th through the 6th, with potential training for all legislators on January 8th, 2007. (See Appendix 7 for a copy of the proposed schedule.) Representative Simpson moved to approve the schedule. The motion was seconded and passed. Representative Lockhart requested that staff include a training section on ethics, preferably led by an existing or former legislator.
Revision
of Miscellaneous Council Policies
LSO staff provided copies of potential updates to miscellaneous Council policies in advance of the meeting. (See Appendix 8 for a copy of the draft policies.) Representative Simpson moved adoption of all proposed updated policies. The motion was seconded and passed.
Other
Business
Mr. Pauli presented a request to Council to authorize the use of an estimated $36,121.30 of Legislative appropriations that would otherwise revert, to refurnish several of the session staff offices. Representative Luthi moved to accept the staff proposal. The motion was seconded and passed.
Mr. Pauli provided an update of staff changes within LSO. He noted that Doug Bohnenblust, Information Technology Specialist, had accepted an opportunity with the State School Facilities Commission. He further advised that Kay Anthony, Administrative Secretary was scheduled to retire around the end of June; and Kristin Siegel, Staff Attorney, would complete her "clerkship" with LSO by the end of the summer. Mr. Pauli noted that LSO was receiving applications for a replacement Administrative Specialist, had hired Matt Obrecht to fill the LSO staff attorney position in early fall, and had hired Cyndi Johnson, previously employed part-time, to work full-time with responsibilities for bill processing and document storage and retrieval.
Meeting
Adjournment
Chairman Larson indicated that a firm date and location for the next meeting of the Council would not be established until a later date. There being no further business, Chairman Larson adjourned the meeting at 5:30 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Senator Grant Larson, Chairman
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