Committee Meeting Information

December 7, 2007

University of Wyoming Outreach Building

Casper, Wyoming

 

Committee Members Present

Senator Jim Anderson, Chairman

Senator Hank Coe

Senator John Hines

Senator Mike Massie

Senator Kathryn Sessions

Representative Ross Diercks

Representative Mike Madden

Representative Del McOmie

 

Committee Members Absent

Representative Patrick Goggles

Representative Kevin White

 

 

Legislative Service Office Staff

Dave Nelson, School Finance Manager, Brenda Long, School Finance Analyst

Matthew Sackett, Research Analyst, Josh Anderson, Research Associate

 

Others Present at Meeting

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

Executive Summary

The Committee met in a joint meeting with the School Facilities Commission for one day in Casper, Wyoming.  The Committee voted to sponsor four bills: "School facilities amendments" 08LSO-0153.C2, "Resident contractor preference law" 08LSO-0156.C2, "School building plan review exception" 08LSO-0157.C1 and "School facilities-infrastructure costs"08LSO-0229.C1.

 

Call To Order

Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 8:30 am.  The meeting was a joint meeting of the Select School Facilities Committee and the School Facilities Commission.  The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic.  Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.

 

Approval of Minutes

Minutes from the September 25, 2007 Committee meeting were approved with no changes.

 

School Facilities Commission Legislative Requests

Ms. Brenda Long of the Legislative Service Office provided a handout to the Committee of the Governor's recommendation on use of school foundation program account excess amounts to augment school capital construction account funding for the biennium (see Appendix 3 for a copy of the handout).

 

08-LSO-0153.C2, "School facilities amendments."

The Committee considered "School facilities amendments" 08LSO-0153.C2 (see Appendix 4 for a copy of the bill draft).  In response to a question, Mr. Ken Daraie, Director of the School Facilities Commission noted that conflicts with the school districts has not been an issue and noted that they had found success in collaboratively prioritizing the school facilities needs.  In response to a question, Mr. Daraie stated that the bill deletes the annual review of school facilities because with 400 plus facilities the process is very time consuming and logistically prohibitive.  Mr. Daraie noted that there is a need for good, reliable data and stated that removing the annual requirement would allow the review to be more thorough.  In response to a question, Mr. Michael O'Donnell, State's Counsel, noted that any final decision of the Commission can get an administrative review.

 

Senator Coe moved that the Committee sponsor the bill, seconded by Representative Diercks.  The Committee voted to sponsor "School facilities amendments" 08LSO-0153.C2 as a Senate File with a roll call vote of 8 ayes, 1 excused (vote attached with bill draft).

 

08-LSO-0156.C2, "Resident contractor preference law."

The Committee considered "Resident contractor preference law" 08LSO-0156.C2 (see Appendix 5 for a copy of the bill draft).  Mr. Dave Nelson of the Legislative Service office explained the bill.  Mr. O'Donnell stated that this would bring the bidding statute in line with the materials statute.  In response to a question, Mr. Daraie stated that very little work is actually lost by out-of-state contractors as a result of the 5% preference requirement and that generally out-of-state contractors get work only when the local contractors do not want the work.

 

Senator Coe moved that the Committee sponsor the bill, seconded by Representative McOmie.

 

Mr. Josh Carnahan of the Wyoming Association of Builders stated that zero jobs are awarded based on the 5% preference.  Mr. Steve Berdahl of the Wyoming Association of Builders stated that while the goal was to bring contractors into the state, now it may be possible for them to only have a phone number in Wyoming.  Mr. Daraie stated that there is a misperception that the residency requirements have changed and that residency requires more than a phone number.

 

The Committee voted to sponsor "Resident contractor preference law" 08LSO-0156.C2 as a House Bill with a roll call vote of 6 ayes, 2 noes and 1 excused (vote attached with bill draft).

 

08-LSO-0157.C1, "School building plan review exception."

The Committee considered "School building plan review exception" 08LSO-0157.C1 (see Appendix 6 for a copy of the bill draft.  Mr. Nelson noted that the bill would allow the fire marshal to contract with outside personnel and would allow for review of school construction plans by changing classification of school buildings to a state building.  The intent is to eliminate costs associated with plan review by local jurisdictions.  Mr. O'Donnell noted that individual communities may not have the ability to do plan reviews and that the goal of this bill is to make the review of plans more expeditious.

 

After additional discussion, Representative McOmie moved that the Committee sponsor the bill, seconded by Senator Coe.

 

Mr. Kurt Schmidt of Freemont #1 stated that the bill would not require home rule districts to conduct a review and that home rule gives local jurisdictions the right to do as they see fit.

 

The Committee voted to sponsor "School building plan review exception" 08LSO-0157.C1 as a House Bill with a roll call vote of 8 ayes and 1 excused (vote attached with bill draft).

 

08-LSO-0229.C1, "School facilities-infrastructure costs."

The Committee considered "School facilities-infrastructure costs"08LSO-0229.C1 (see Appendix 7 for a copy of the bill draft).  Mr. Nelson explained the bill.  In response to a question, Mr. Daraie noted that once all other remedies are exhausted it is possible to use funds appropriated by the legislature for infrastructure costs associated with school building projects predicated upon limitations to ensure the state pays only the proportion of infrastructure development associated with the school building.  Mr. O'Donnell provided a handout to the Committee of a proposed footnote to the 2008 budget bill (see Appendix 8 for a copy of the handout) and stated that the footnote does need to be adopted because the funds are subject to reversion if not specifically carried over by legislative action.

 

Senator Sessions moved that the Committee sponsor the bill, seconded by Senator Massie.

 

Senator Massie moved that the bill be amended on page 2, line 8 after "financial" by inserting "and educational".  The motion carried.

 

Mr. Richard Gilpatrick of the School Facilities Commission noted that the bill would reinforce the fact that schools cannot pay for full infrastructure.  In response to a question, Mr. Daraie stated that in most cases the plan includes annexation to the city.

 

The Committee voted to sponsor "School facilities-infrastructure costs"08LSO-0229.C1 as amended as a Senate File with a roll call vote of 8 ayes and 1 excused (vote attached with bill draft).

 

Meeting Adjournment

There being no further business, Chairman Anderson adjourned the meeting at 9:40 am.

.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Senator Jim Anderson, Co-Chairman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Appendix		Appendix Topic		Appendix Description		Appendix Provider
1		Committee Sign-In Sheet		Lists meeting attendees		Legislative Service Office
2		Committee Meeting Agenda		Provides an outline of the topics the Committee planned to address at meeting		Legislative Service Office
3		School foundation program		School foundation program fiscal profile		Legislative Service Office
4		Legislative Requests		"School facilities-amendments." 08LSO-0153.C2		Legislative Service Office
5		Legislative Requests		"Resident contractor preference law." 08LSO-0156.C2		Legislative Service Office
6		Legislative Requests		"School building plan review exception." 08LSO-0157.C1		Legislative Service Office
7		Legislative Requests		"School facilities-infrastructure costs." 08LSO-0229.C1		Legislative Service Office
8		Legislative Requests		Proposed footnote		Legislative Service Office