Bill Summary for Bill Number HB10-1404

Date: 04/22/2010

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB10-1404

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A). Th Adopt prepared amendment L.002 (Attachment B). Th Refer House Bill 10-1404, as amended, to the Commi	Pass Without Objection Pass Without Objection PASS

01:41 PM -- House Bill 10-1404

Representative McCann, prime sponsor, presented House Bill 10-1404 concerning the administration of the Independent Ethics Commission. The bill moves the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) from the Office of Administrative Courts in the Department of Personnel and Administration (DPA) to the Judicial Department. Any state employee on the staff of the IEC is transferred and becomes an employee of the Judicial Department. Employees who transfer retain all accrued rights and benefits earned under the state personnel system, including retirement, continuous service credit, and bumping rights within the IEC. Among other things, the bill also changes the response time for advisory opinions requested of the IEC from within 20 business days to as soon as practicable.

Representative McCann distributed prepared amendments L.001 and L.002 (Attachments A and B). She responded to questions from the committee.

01:49 PM -- Jeff Clayton, Judicial Branch, spoke in support of the bill. Mr. Clayton stated that the Judicial Branch did not seek out the transfer; the Governor's office asked for it to happen. Mr. Clayton discussed agencies that are under the umbrella of the Judicial Branch that are not necessarily judicial in nature, including the Office of the Child's Representative and the Office of the Alternate Defense Counsel.

01:52 PM -- Dan Grossman, IEC, spoke in support of the bill. Senator Grossman spoke about the independent nature of the commission. He expressed his opinion that the Judicial Branch will be very mindful of the constitutional independence of the IEC, while still providing an administrative foundation for the work of the commission. He stressed that the DPA has been helpful to the commission in terms of providing office space and other services, but that the department views the IEC as a subordinate agency. This has caused some confusion in the past. He responded to questions from the committee about the entity that initiated the bill.

01:56 PM -- Sally Hopper, IEC, spoke in support of the bill. Senator Hopper discussed the reason for eliminating the statutory requirement that the member of the commission appointed by the House of Representatives be affiliated with a different political party than the person appointed by the Senate. She responded to questions from the committee about the constitutional mandate for the commission.


BILL:	HB10-1404
TIME:	02:02:59 PM
MOVED:	McCann
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.001 (Attachment A). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Court
	Gardner B.
	Kagan
	King S.
	Miklosi
	Nikkel
	Pace
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB10-1404
TIME:	02:03:12 PM
MOVED:	McCann
MOTION:	Adopt prepared amendment L.002 (Attachment B). The motion passed without objection.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Court
	Gardner B.
	Kagan
	King S.
	Miklosi
	Nikkel
	Pace
	Ryden
	Waller
	McCann
	Levy

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: Pass Without Objection


BILL:	HB10-1404
TIME:	02:03:34 PM
MOVED:	McCann
MOTION:	Refer House Bill 10-1404, as amended, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 11-0.
SECONDED:	Court
		VOTE
	Court	Yes
	Gardner B.	Yes
	Kagan	Yes
	King S.	Yes
	Miklosi	Yes
	Nikkel	Yes
	Pace	Yes
	Ryden	Yes
	Waller	Yes
	McCann	Yes
	Levy	Yes

Final YES: 11 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS