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J_LS_2023A 02/16/2023 07:36:41 AM Committee Summary

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
Appointment of two nonlegislative attorney members to Statutory Revision Committee Committee Discussion Only
Approval of the OLLS Budget for FY 2023-24 Committee Discussion Only
Other 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
07:49:15 AM  
The committee returned
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
07:51:50 AM  
The committee returned
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.






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