Joint Committee Committee on Legislative Emergency Epidemic Response (07/30/2009)

Final
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING

LEGISLATIVE EMERGENCY EPIDEMIC RESPONSE

Date:	07/30/2009	ATTENDANCE

Time:	10:00 AM to 12:07 PM	Adams	X
		Eddins	*
Place:	HCR 0112	Goldman	X
		Haskins	X
This Meeting was called to order by		Herreid	X
	Senator Sandoval	Levy	X
		Ray	X
This Report was prepared by		Spence	X
	Jessika Shipley	Ziegler	X
		Lambert	X
		Sandoval	X
		X = Present, E = Excused, A = Absent, * = Present after roll call

Bills Addressed:		Action Taken:
Discussion of Legislative Continuity Planning Efforts Presentation on Legislative Vacancies Discussion of Draft Legislation Briefing by CDPHE on the H1N1 Virus Discussion of Draft Legislation (Cont.)		- - - - -

10:01 AM -- Discussion of Legislative Continuity Planning Efforts

Senator Sandoval directed the committee's attention to the executive summary of the Continuity of Operations Plan created by the Legislative Management Team (Attachment A). She explained the major points included in the plan, which presents a logical flow of events to respond to major disruptions in essential functions, mission critical services, and technology infrastructure. Each legislative agency is required to have a plan to:

continue or resume time-sensitive operations of the essential functions identified by the agency, including the identification of minimum staffing requirements needed to perform those essential functions;
activate the resumption and support of essential functions, including documentation of the agency's chain of command structure and identification of the decision makers and positions that will perform necessary work operations;
identify the responsibilities of key staff members assigned to perform essential functions and steps necessary to progress toward resumption of normal business operations of the agency;
describe how the agency will communicate and coordinate with staff members through the use of agency-specific emergency contact lists and telephone trees;
achieve each of the above objectives in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner; and
return to a permanent operating environment.

10:04 AM -- Presentation on Legislative Vacancies

Troy Bratton, Office of Legislative Legal Services, joined the committee to discuss his memorandum on the subject of legislative vacancies (Attachment B). Mr. Bratton talked about the existing statute that covers legislative vacancies in the case of the death or resignation of a legislator. He discussed the process for filling legislative vacancies in other states. The most common approach is the designation of a list of successors by the legislators. Such a list is generally filed with the Secretary of State and given to the Governor. Other states allow the remaining members of a legislative body to choose individuals to fill vacancies. Majority rule usually governs such a choice. Alabama has a very comprehensive process for filling legislative vacancies. Mr. Bratton outlined the Alabama procedure in detail. California's constitution includes a provision allowing the general assembly to fill vacancies in an emergencies with pro tempore members from the same party and legislative district as the members they are replacing. In Kansas, a party-driven process is triggered in the event of an emergency. The county committee of the unavailable legislator's political party will designate a temporary replacement. The designated successor serves until the original member becomes available or a new legislator may be duly elected.

10:15 AM

Mr. Bratton discussed the process in New Mexico, where county commissioners designate five successors for legislators from that committee. The designated replacement stays in office until marshal law is official terminated by the Governor. In South Carolina, a broad Emergency Interim Legislative Succession Act that includes contingencies for changing the location of a legislative session and procedures for designating emergency interim successors has been enacted. Only 15 states have an actual plan to deal with legislative vacancies in the case of an emergency. Mr. Bratton listed some options for changing Colorado law. Mr. Herreid asked if any states require legislative leadership to make appointments to fill vacancies. Senator Sandoval asked whether a disaster would need to be officially declared by the Governor. Senator Spence asked about public access to lists of designees and Mr. Bratton replied that there were no confidentiality requirements for such lists.

10:23 AM

Senator Sandoval expressed her preference for a comprehensive statute to cover legislative vacancies in the case of an emergency. Representative Lambert discussed his concerns with creating a list of designees for each member. He indicated that the existing statute is comprehensive enough and cases of unavailability due to emergency might be added to that statute. The committee discussed various scenarios in which legislators need to be replaced. Representative Levy raised the possibility of only triggering any potential process when an emergency is declared and certain key pieces of legislation require consideration and enactment. The committee continued to discuss various options for continuity of the legislature. Ms. Goldman asked that any administrative functions tied to filling vacancies be put in rule, rather than in statute, for the sake of flexibility. Representative Lambert talked about changing the quorum rules to allow business to be conducted with a smaller number of legislators. Representative Levy indicated her preference for building on the current statute because it has already been established and has been fully vetted by elected legislators. Senator Spence expressed her opinion that adding to current statute is a good idea and that an additional plan should also be in place in case the established procedure cannot be carried out.

10:39 AM

The committee continued their discussion of options for filling vacancies in emergencies. Senator Spence asked how legislative vacancies are handled at the federal level. Kent Smiley, Governor's Office of Homeland Security, stated that the process is the same in an emergency and a non-emergency. Mr. Bratton informed the committee that it does not have the authority to recommend legislation and any legislation that carries forward would need to be sponsored by individual members.

10:45 AM -- Discussion of Draft Legislation

Mr. Bratton discussed recommendations made by the committee in 2008 and resolutions that were not adopted by the General Assembly. Ms. Goldman pointed out that, in terms of replacing the Secretary or Assistant Secretary of the Senate, the other positions down the line are session-only positions. She agreed to work with Ms. Eddins in finding alternate language that would address the problem. Senator Sandoval indicated that the new language should be addressed at the next meeting of the committee.

10:51 AM

Mr. Bratton explained a senate resolution concerning the authority of the Senate President. The committee discussed the expanded authority for the Senate President and how the rule change would mirror the language of House rules. The committee discussed whether it would be appropriate for the full committee to vote on whether to send legislation forward.


BILL:	Discussion of Draft Legislation
TIME:	10:59:13 AM
MOVED:	Levy
MOTION:	The committee recommends the Senate should adopt a rule concerning the replacement of the Secretary of the Senate in the event of an emergency. Senator Spence offered to sponsor the resolution.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Adams	Yes
	Eddins	Yes
	Goldman	Yes
	Haskins	Abstain
	Herreid	Yes
	Levy	Yes
	Ray	Abstain
	Spence	Yes
	Ziegler	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Sandoval	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 2 FINAL ACTION: PASS


BILL:	Discussion of Draft Legislation
TIME:	11:02:59 AM
MOVED:	Spence
MOTION:	The committee recommends that the Senate adopt a rule concerning the authority of the Senate President. Ms. Goldman stated that the two resolutions can be combined into one and Senator Spence agreed that she would carry the combined resolution. The motion passed on a vote of 8-0, with 3 abstaining.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Adams	Yes
	Eddins	Yes
	Goldman	Yes
	Haskins	Abstain
	Herreid	Abstain
	Levy	Yes
	Ray	Abstain
	Spence	Yes
	Ziegler	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Sandoval	Yes

Final YES: 8 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 3 FINAL ACTION: PASS

11:04 AM -- Briefing by CDPHE on the H1N1 Virus

Dr. Ned Calonge, Chief Medical Officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health Environment (CDPHE), introduced the presenters. Dr. Bernadette Albanese, Medical Director, El Paso County Health Department, discussed the H1N1 virus outbreaks in El Paso County and the county approach to such outbreaks. The Air Force Academy is a federal entity with a complex infrastructure and established policies and procedures. This is contrasted with summer camps and other more informal groups from which outbreaks have been reported. Dr. Albanese discussed the Air Force Academy outbreak in detail. Simply put, the way to stop the spread of a virus is to separate sick individuals from those who are not sick. Screening and isolation procedures are key. She stressed the importance of partnership between county health officials and entities experiencing an outbreak.

11:15 AM

Dr. Lisa Miller, Director, Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, CDPHE, discussed the counting and reporting of influenza and influenza-like illnesses. Clinics, laboratories, hospitals, and other facilities are monitored by CDPHE. Dr. Miller stressed that the department cannot possibly count every single case. This particular strain of influenza is affecting children and adolescents, but is by and large not affecting the elderly. The department does not want to create a burden for hospitals.

11:20 AM

Dr. Calonge discussed the planning process for a flu season. It is important to determine what type of flu is presenting and the severity of the virus in a given area. He pointed out that public health is a shared partnership between state and local health departments. H1N1 is circulating and it will be circulating when schools open in a few weeks. CDPHE is working with the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education on planning activities to handle transmission of the virus through schools. Vaccines are scheduled to arrive in October and the department is working on distribution strategies. Senator Spence asked about diagnosis of H1N1 and other strains of influenza. Dr. Calonge discussed testing and stated that treatment is identical for all types of influenza. He stated that the CDPHE has no mandatory vaccination authority and does not want such authority.

11:34 AM

The committee continued to discuss the H1N1 strain of the influenza virus.

11:41 AM -- Discussion of Draft Legislation (Cont.)

Mr. Adams raised concerns about legislative staff members voting on issues related to constitutional and statutory changes. He indicated that he does not want to vote on such measures. Mr. Bratton returned to discuss drafts of a resolution and a bill on the subject of a temporary relocation of the seat of government and the General Assembly during a declared emergency. He explained the bill draft provided to the committee (Attachment C), which concerns changing the meeting location for the General Assembly in an emergency. The committee discussed how the draft legislation came about. Mr. Bratton stressed that the bill only deals with the General Assembly meeting in an alternate location during an emergency.

11:48 AM

Representative Lambert talked about his idea that the constitution needs to be amended in order to designate a temporary location for the seat of government during a disaster emergency. He asked for the committee's input on the house concurrent resolution that was originally drafted for the 2009 legislative session (Attachment D). The committee discussed the repercussions of the proposed bill and whether Joint Rule 44 would be sufficient to address the problem.

11:58 AM

Mr. Bratton talked about proposed technical changes to Joint Rule 44 (2), which would change "and" to "or" in two places (Attachment E).


BILL:	Discussion of Draft Legislation (Cont.)
TIME:	12:00:40 PM
MOVED:	Lambert
MOTION:	The committee recommends that a technical change be made to Joint Rule 44 (2) to resolve the issue previously discussed about a member not belonging to the House and the Senate at the same time. The motion passed on a vote of 9-0, with 2 abstaining.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Adams	Yes
	Eddins	Yes
	Goldman	Yes
	Haskins	Abstain
	Herreid	Yes
	Levy	Yes
	Ray	Abstain
	Spence	Yes
	Ziegler	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Sandoval	Yes

Final YES: 9 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 2 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:01 PM

Representatives Lambert and Levy agreed to co-sponsor the rule change. Representative Lambert discussed a bill he is having drafted to change the authorizing legislation for the committee. He would like to remove the word "epidemic" from the committee's title to reflect the discussion of and planning for all disaster emergencies. He also recommended that the term "response" be replaced with "preparedness response and recovery." He also talked about codifying the role of the Governor's Office of Homeland Security.


BILL:	Discussion of Draft Legislation (Cont.)
TIME:	12:06:46 PM
MOVED:	Lambert
MOTION:	The committee recommends changes to the final report of the committee for 2009. The motion passed on a vote of 10-0, with 1 abstaining.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Adams	Yes
	Eddins	Yes
	Goldman	Yes
	Haskins	Yes
	Herreid	Yes
	Levy	Yes
	Ray	Abstain
	Spence	Yes
	Ziegler	Yes
	Lambert	Yes
	Sandoval	Yes

Final YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 1 FINAL ACTION: PASS

12:07 PM

Senator Sandoval adjourned the committee.