An update from Rep. Ingraham

The State Administration & Veterans Affairs Committee (SAVA) will be meeting on Monday, October 21 in room 102 of the Capitol Building for those of you interested in following the work of the committee, especially in regards to their work on elections and the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices. This is an opportunity for the public to attend and make their voices heard.

Their morning schedule will be focused on House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR 1) – The Study of the Office of Commissioner of Political Practices. It begins with the committee receiving an in-depth presentation on the current office structure, staff duties, workload and resources by Commissioner Jonathan Motel and staff beginning at 9:05 a.m. The presentation will be followed by public comment and committee questions.

Following the Commissioner of Political Practices presentation, legislative staff will review the survey data about other states available from other sources and a draft of the committee’s survey questions as well. Following public comment the committee will move into a work session which will require them to take action on two things: (1) revisions and approval of the survey on other states; and, (2) review and approval of proposed round table participants and discussion questions for the December meeting.

During the afternoon session, the committee will continue the study directed by Senate Joint Resolution 14 (SJR 14) – “Combining primary and school elections.” They’ll hear a report from their subcommittee that primarily addresses three questions in regards to SJR 14: 1) what their interest was in the study; 2) based on the outline of dates and deadlines, is it administratively feasible from their perspective to combine primary and school elections; and, 3) should the subcommittee continue to examine the challenges, consider options and potentially develop recommendations for how to combine these elections.

Following public comment regarding the subcommittee’s work and committee questions, the SAVA Committee will move into a work session to decide what the next steps should be in regards to the combining of primary and school elections.

The SAVA Committee’s other work during the afternoon session which you may like to follow besides both HJR 1 and SJR 14 includes: 1) Pension Oversight and actuarial reports on the Teachers Retirement System and the Public Employees’ Retirement Board; and, 2) updates on other legislative studies of interest which covered House Joint Resolution 17- a pay plan study by the Legislative Finance Committee, House Joint Resolution 2 – an electronic records study by the Education and Local Government Interim Committee, and House Joint Resolution 30 – an inventory of veterans’ benefits that was assigned to legislative staff.

If you’d like to hear and view the hearing as it is occurring and have access to a computer, you can do so by going to the legislative website at www.leg.mt.gov to access these connections. If you have questions on how to access and use these connections or to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities, you can contact the Ms. Sheri Scurr of the SAVA Committee’s legislative staff at 406-444-3596.

Now it’s your turn to “Keep in Touch”. I can be reached via e-mail at pathd13@blackfoot.net, or call me at 827-4652 or by mail at P.O. Box 1151, Thompson Falls, Montana 59873.