|
PUBLIC
STAFF SUMMARY OF MEETING
JOINT COMMITTEE COMMITTEE ON LEGAL SERVICES
| Date |
02/16/2023 |
| Attendance |
| Dickson |
X |
| Gardner |
X |
| Mabrey |
X |
| Moreno |
X |
| Roberts |
X |
| Taggart |
X |
| Van Winkle |
X |
| Weissman |
X |
| Soper |
X |
| Gonzales |
X |
|
| Time |
07:36:41 AM to 08:30:23 AM |
| Place |
Old State Library |
| This Meeting was called to order by |
Gonzales |
| This Report was prepared by |
Courtney Dunaway |
|
| Hearing Items |
Action Taken |
| hAppointment of two nonlegislative attorney members to Statutory Revision Committee |
Committee Discussion Only |
| hApproval of the OLLS Budget for FY 2023-24 |
Committee Discussion Only |
| hOther business |
Committee Discussion Only |
|
|
Appointment of two nonlegislative attorney members to Statutory Revision Committee - Committee Discussion Only
|
|
|
07:37:40 AM |
Kristen Forrestal,
Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS), explained that the committee
is responsible for appointing attorneys to the statutory revision committee
and introduced the three attorneys who applied to be appointed
|
|
07:38:27 AM |
Senator Gonzales,
chair, invited Deborah Nelson and Tom Morris to the table
|
|
07:39:07 AM |
Tom Morris, attorney,
introduced himself and described his former background as a drafting attorney
with the OLLS drafting legislation for the Colorado State Legislature and
his familiarity with the Colorado Revised Statutes
|
|
07:41:07 AM |
Deborah Nelson, attorney,
introduced herself and described her experience working in the executive
branch where she oversees operations for the environmental divisions of
the department of public health and environment and implements law and
explained that she has worked with OLLS staff in the past with legislation
|
|
07:42:27 AM |
Eric Strobel, attorney,
introduced himself and described his law experience, his past experience
working with legislators in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maryland, Illinois, and
Nevada, and his familiarity with the legislative process
|
|
07:43:54 AM |
Senator Gonzales,
chair, asked the committee if they had any questions for the candidates.The
committee had no questions
|
|
07:45:00 AM |
The committee stood
in a brief senatorial five to review the applications
|
|
07:49:24 AM |
Senator Gonzales,
chair, explained how the committee will cast their votes by doing a roll
call and each listing their two choices
|
|
07:50:29 AM |
The committee cast
their votes
|
|
07:51:17 AM |
The committee stood
in a senatorial five to make sure all committee members were able to review
the applications
|
|
07:53:45 AM |
The committee tallied
the votes
|
|
07:54:29 AM |
Senator Gonzales,
chair, announced the committee will be appointing Tom Morris and Deborah
Nelson to the statutory revision committee and thanked Eric Strobel for
applying
|
07:55:13 AM
|
Motion |
I move for the appointment of Tom Morris and Deborah Nelson to the statutory revision committee |
|
| Moved |
Soper |
|
| Seconded |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dickson |
Yes |
|
|
Gardner |
Yes |
|
|
Mabrey |
Yes |
|
|
Moreno |
Yes |
|
|
Roberts |
Yes |
|
|
Taggart |
Yes |
|
|
Van Winkle |
Yes |
|
|
Weissman |
Yes |
|
|
Soper |
Yes |
|
|
Gonzales |
Yes |
|
|
|
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS |
|
|
Approval of the OLLS Budget for FY 2023-24 - Committee Discussion Only
|
|
|
07:56:30 AM |
Sharon Eubanks, Director
of the OLLS, introduced the budget proposal for the OLLS and the Office
of Legislative Workplace Relations (OLWR) 2023-24 fiscal year
|
|
07:57:15 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained how she will present the budget starting with the overall figures
and then going into specifics for the different offices
|
|
07:58:36 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
discussed the OLLS budget going through each line item in four categories,
starting with the personal services category
|
|
08:02:17 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
described the office's operating expenses category
|
|
08:05:21 AM |
Representative Soper
asked a question about the software update and whether the update includes
WordPerfect
|
|
08:05:36 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained that the software update is an update to the system the office
uses to publish the statutes and work with the publisher Lexis Nexus, not
an update from WordPerfect
|
|
08:06:51 AM |
Representative Weissman
spoke on SGML as the predecessor to HTML and XML and explained the XDOME
project and what it entails
|
|
08:08:19 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained one more line item in the operating costs regarding a survey
for competitive salaries
|
|
08:09:30 AM |
Senator Gardner asked
about the professional services line item and asked if it includes retention
of counsel
|
|
08:09:56 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained that the budget for retention of counsel remains the same as
previous years
|
|
08:10:21 AM |
Sharon Eubanks, director
of the OLLS, explained that the budget for retention of counsel has been
adequate remaining the same for the last few years and that anytime they
have exceeded the budget for that item the office comes back to the committee
for more funding or absorbs it in its own budget
|
|
08:11:35 AM |
Representative Dickson
asked about how the staff survey happened last year
|
|
08:11:49 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained that the survey is a market review of salaries to see if the
office is competitive in the market and that the previous year budget included
actual salary increases not the survey
|
|
08:13:07 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
went over the staff travel expenses category in the budget
|
|
08:15:23 AM |
Representative Dickson
asked how many employees typically go to the conferences mentioned
|
|
08:15:31 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained that when the event is out of state, not many employees go, and
the amount is determined by how many the budget allows
|
|
08:16:18 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
went over the expenses for the Colorado Commission on uniform state laws
operations category of the budget
|
|
08:17:50 AM |
Senator Moreno asked
about staffing levels in the OLLS and if there are any vacancies
|
|
08:18:24 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
explained that the office filled 14 of 17 vacancies
|
|
08:19:52 AM |
Sharon Eubanks, director
of the OLLS, noted that the office tried to fill the three remaining vacancies
but decided to wait until the next year
|
|
08:20:41 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
went over the budget for the OLWR
|
|
08:22:37 AM |
Senator Gardner asked
about the investigation line item and whether the office has enough history
to know how many investigations the office typically has
|
|
08:23:19 AM |
Ben FitzSimons, directory
of the OLWR, explained that the office has not had to ever hire any third
party investigators thus far
|
|
08:23:52 AM |
Senator Gardner asked
if the office has a list of outside counsel
|
|
08:24:10 AM |
Ben FitzSimons, director
of the OLWR, explained that he does have a list of outside counsel that
he regularly updates
|
|
08:24:37 AM |
Christy Chase, OLLS,
expressed her thanks for the committee's attention and asked if the committee
has any questions
|
|
08:25:14 AM |
Representative Weissman
commented that he hopes to create a professional environment in the office
where employees decide to stay for years
|
08:26:50 AM
|
Motion |
I move to approve the OLLS and OLWR 2023-24 budget and allow the OLLS to make budget modifications based on possible JBC changes to common policies or under direction of the executive committee |
|
| Moved |
Soper |
|
| Seconded |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dickson |
Yes |
|
|
Gardner |
Yes |
|
|
Mabrey |
Yes |
|
|
Moreno |
Yes |
|
|
Roberts |
Yes |
|
|
Taggart |
Yes |
|
|
Van Winkle |
Yes |
|
|
Weissman |
Yes |
|
|
Soper |
Yes |
|
|
Gonzales |
Yes |
|
|
|
YES: 10 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS |
|
|
Other business - Committee Discussion Only
|
|
|
08:29:17 AM |
Jerry Barry, OLLS
and committee staff attorney, explained that the committee meeting next
week will not include a rule issue so the meeting can start at 8:00 instead
of 7:30
|
|
08:29:54 AM |
The committee agreed
to the meeting time
|
| 08:30:23 AM |
The committee adjourned. |
