[0:16] Here rodriguez

[0:21] coming excused

[0:21] Simpson

[0:25] Mr President, let's do this

[0:25] madam Speaker

[0:29] here and it does look like

[0:30] majorjority leaderader rodriguez

[0:33] is now online. members we

[0:34] have a couple of things to cover

[0:36] today. First, consideration of

[0:37] the fiscal information in the

[0:39] blueeook for innitiative195.

[0:41] then we're going to get an

[0:43] update from legislative

[0:45] council staff on the email

[0:46] transition that members went

[0:48] through this year administrator

[0:49] of legislative safety will be

[0:52] covered by President coleman. We

[0:53] are going to make a decision

[0:55] today on the aid badge

[0:55] programme, a review of the NCSL

[1:00] security grant and finally an

[1:03] RFP for language access needs

[1:07] so let's start with

[1:09] doctorctorRami forgive me for

[1:12] missing that earlier. we are

[1:13] talking about the fiscal

[1:15] information in the blueook for

[1:15] initiative 195.

[1:19] please proceed thank you madam

[1:23] Speaker so you have a

[1:25] memorandum in front of you I

[1:28] assume that was sent by our

[1:32] office ok so that's the memo

[1:34] that I will be discussing today

[1:37] taber requires that the blue

[1:38] book includes certain

[1:42] information whenever there is a

[1:43] measure that creates or

[1:45] increases taxes and this year

[1:45] Amendment87

[1:50] which was proposition 195 which

[1:52] creates the graduated income tax

[1:53] requires this information

[1:58] so taper requires that this

[2:00] information comes from you but

[2:02] legislative council staff drafts

[2:04] the recommended language for you

[2:07] to review and approve. so

[2:08] there are two pieces of

[2:10] information required by Taber to

[2:12] be included in the blueook as

[2:13] discussed in the memo

[2:16] the first is the fiscal year

[2:17] spending for the current year

[2:20] and each of the past four years

[2:21] along with the overall

[2:23] percentage and dollar change a

[2:26] fiscal year spending fiscal year

[2:27] spending is the amount of

[2:29] revenue subject to taor that the

[2:32] state is allowed to permitted to

[2:33] keep any of their spend or save

[2:34] each year

[2:36] an estimate for fiscal year

[2:39] spending for the current year is

[2:41] is included in table four along

[2:42] with the actual fiscal year

[2:43] spending amounts for the

[2:46] previous four fiscal years as we

[2:48] noted at the beginning of the

[2:50] memo the number for fiscal year

[2:54] 2526 has been updated since we

[2:56] sent the original memo last week

[2:58] that's the only thing that we

[3:00] have changed there we updated

[3:02] the number to reflect the actual

[3:03] amount of fiscal year 2526

[3:04] spending

[3:07] certified by the statetroller on

[3:07] September 1st.

[3:12] Second piece of information

[3:14] taper requires the blue book to

[3:15] contain an estimate of the

[3:18] maximum dollar amount of the tax

[3:20] increase and of fiscal year

[3:22] spending without the tax

[3:24] increase each of these for the

[3:26] first full fiscal year of the

[3:28] proposed tax increase so for

[3:30] this amendment87 that would be

[3:34] for fiscal year 2728 and that

[3:35] information is included in

[3:35] table5

[3:40] of the memo so pursuant to

[3:44] statute or House Bill251327

[3:46] table five there includes

[3:48] estimates of the maximum dollar

[3:50] amounts for both of those things

[3:52] fiscal you're spending without

[3:55] the tax increase as well as the

[3:56] fiscal year revenue increased

[3:59] from the increased income taxes.

[4:01] So with that I'll take any

[4:02] questions that you might have

[4:08] ue s s members yes minority

[4:10] leader Simpson thank you madam

[4:11] Speaker

[4:11] doctorctorRay

[4:14] a couple of ques quick

[4:15] questions

[4:18] now what were that you

[4:20] referenced the tables reflect

[4:22] the maximum amount but the table

[4:25] doesn't indicate those are

[4:26] maximum amounts oh it does in

[4:28] the language it does yeah I see

[4:31] that and then secondly fiscal

[4:34] year spending I get it it's a

[4:35] constant a legal term in the

[4:37] constitution but in layman's

[4:37] terms particularly the

[4:38] legislators

[4:42] that estimated $20 billion is

[4:45] large it's not exclusive general

[4:47] fund it's is it all general fund

[4:49] and some cash fund is that what

[4:50] constitutes that legal fiscal

[4:52] year spending, I guess DrRami

[4:56] thank you madampeaker senator

[5:00] yes. so it is revenue collected

[5:02] that's subject to taor up to the

[5:04] taor revenue limit. it can be

[5:06] below if it's if the brand we

[5:07] collected is below the table

[5:09] limit but yes so that includes

[5:11] both cash some cash fund revenue

[5:11] and general fund revenue.

[5:17] minority it include all general

[5:18] fund or are there general fund

[5:19] dollars that are not subject to

[5:20] that limit

[5:20] thank you

[5:30] think Mrbetsky phone a friendni

[5:31] please join us

[5:34] Nothing I would rather talk

[5:35] about madam

[5:38] senator Simpson overwhelmingly

[5:39] general fund revenue is subject

[5:41] totaor there is a very small

[5:42] amount of general fund revenue

[5:45] that's exempt fromtaor the

[5:46] amount that's represented in

[5:47] fiscal year spending is going to

[5:48] be very nearly all by which I

[5:52] mean 97 to 98% of the general

[5:54] fund and then all of the cash

[5:56] fund revenue that is subject to

[5:58] the table amount. And as Dr. Ami

[5:59] explained it's capped at the

[6:01] level of the taber limit. So in

[6:02] a world where we have revenue

[6:03] that's greater than the limit

[6:04] you'll see the printed level of

[6:05] the limit rather than the amount

[6:06] of reve

[6:06] n ue collections into Free Corp.

[6:07] Thank you.

[6:14] it appears that I do need to

[6:16] allow for amendments any

[6:18] amendments to our attachment a

[6:21] seeing none

[6:25] is there a motion, Mr President?

[6:26] thank you very much madam

[6:28] Speaker. I move to approve the

[6:29] staff recommendations for the

[6:30] fiscal information to be

[6:32] included in the blue book ballot

[6:34] analysis for initiative 195con

[6:36] properly seconded by Majority

[6:38] Leader Duran Ms Kurtzhelan,

[6:39] please poll the committee.

[6:40] Senators andres representatives

[6:41] Caldwell

[6:43] du ran yes rodriguez

[6:50] Majority leaderader rodriguez

[6:51] you are on mute

[6:54] i

[6:57] im p son

[7:02] Mr President madam Speaker, yes,

[7:03] that passes unanimously

[7:05] thank you doctorctorRay and

[7:05] thank you Mr Subetsky

[7:11] Next on the agenda we are

[7:12] going to get an update

[7:15] fromrector Kessel and

[7:17] Zachimmberly our interim IT

[7:20] director on the email transition

[7:21] that legislators went through

[7:21] this spring

[7:25] who wants to kick us off? Mr

[7:28] Wimberley you madam Speaker. I

[7:29] appreciate the time and then the

[7:30] committee thank you too

[7:32] so real quick a timeline and

[7:34] deadlines for this project we

[7:36] had four phases all of our

[7:37] targets were met even though

[7:38] some of the members were real

[7:40] late at the end there we did get

[7:41] most of them

[7:43] contacted a positive outcome of

[7:45] this project for the email auto

[7:47] forwarding was our domain

[7:49] reputation is no longer impacted

[7:50] we haven't seen any fallout from

[7:52] that our email security is also

[7:53] in a much much better

[7:55] po s ition right now some of the

[7:57] negative outcome looking back at

[7:58] this project was that the

[7:59] communication was probably not

[8:01] as prominent as it could have

[8:03] been. certain legislators did

[8:05] not have the proper setup after

[8:07] we had left their offices and

[8:08] had to do a couple of revisits

[8:09] to make sure that the settings

[8:11] were proper in their google

[8:11] accounts

[8:13] the

[8:18] who is impacted on this is is

[8:20] a44 members of the legislature

[8:23] had to be contacted to move

[8:25] their emails over over the past

[8:26] week we tried to follow up with

[8:28] these44 using phone call or

[8:30] voicemail and an email survey of

[8:33] those4fo 16 have not

[8:36] responded.ix of them have

[8:37] responded and requested a

[8:39] follow-up and 22 members are

[8:41] reporting all is working well.

[8:43] some of our follow ups that we

[8:43] had for those six members were

[8:46] either very simple setting

[8:47] changes to something a little

[8:49] bit more complicated by getting

[8:50] their aid set up to go look at

[8:53] their account but have been

[8:53] fairly positive there

[8:58] lessons learned I think Ls

[8:59] needs to partner more with the

[9:00] chief of staff for mass

[9:02] communications at this level so

[9:03] we've talked to chief of staff

[9:05] to get in touch with members

[9:07] that are not responsive sooner

[9:09] and not waiting to the very end.

[9:11] LAS could also communicate a

[9:11] little bit better for a

[9:13] nonimpacted legislators of

[9:15] those44 that were impacted they

[9:17] were communicated to but the

[9:18] remainder of the legislators had

[9:20] no idea what was happening in

[9:21] the background. we probably

[9:22] could have done a better job

[9:23] saying that this doesn't affect

[9:24] you but here's what's going on

[9:25] in the background

[9:28] Lia could also communicate a

[9:29] little bit better with those

[9:31] members that were impacted you

[9:32] know, stressing that the threat

[9:34] was broader than the individual

[9:36] account and the threat is

[9:38] actually impacting the entire

[9:41] legislature. after we

[9:42] finished this project I kind of

[9:43] want to end this on a high note

[9:46] with some stats our email

[9:48] reduction was about a million

[9:52] emails we receive less about a

[9:53] million messages less than we

[9:54] normally have, which is amazing

[9:56] the auto

[10:00] forwarding stopped about75% of

[10:02] our actionable threats. so

[10:04] before we turn this on we're

[10:07] getting about8, threats a month

[10:09] and after we turned it on

[10:12] about 2000 is what was delivered

[10:13] so that would include something

[10:15] like spam malicious email spoof

[10:17] identity theft or phishing

[10:19] emails so the reduction for

[10:21] security is immense. that's

[10:22] about all I have right now. any

[10:23] questions

[10:28] I want to open it up to members

[10:30] for any feedback. I do

[10:31] appreciate that you have done a

[10:34] follow up survey hopefully

[10:36] that pleased to hear that

[10:38] most of the members responded

[10:41] even if not all and we did

[10:43] receive feedback some of the

[10:44] concerns on communication I

[10:46] really appreciate the focus on

[10:47] partnering with our chiefs of

[10:49] staff, other staff members to

[10:52] ensure that we assist in that

[10:53] follow up so that we don't end

[10:53] up with a similar situation

[10:58] next goro. any yes Mr

[11:00] President thank you very much

[11:02] madam Speaker and thank you very

[11:04] much interim director Wimberley

[11:05] we appreciate all the work that

[11:06] you've done. You know I'm not

[11:08] sure which of those memories

[11:09] were the last to complete this

[11:10] process but I can commit to you

[11:12] we will hold them to the highest

[11:13] account. I'm not talking about

[11:14] myself. I'm talking about

[11:15] whoever that might have been.

[11:17] thank you very much for all the

[11:18] work you've done. I know it's a

[11:20] big transition and we really

[11:22] appreciate the amazing work

[11:23] you've done to help make sure we

[11:23] can streamline our communication

[11:24] process

[11:25] es via email

[11:31] seeing no other comments thank

[11:33] you very much for the update. We

[11:33] appreciate it

[11:35] next

[11:39] the administrator of legislative

[11:41] safety and before I turn it

[11:43] over to Mr President, I do want

[11:45] to recognize thatpresentative

[11:46] Clifford is here in the room. He

[11:49] has been a driving force

[11:50] behind all of the work in

[11:52] helping us develop a job

[11:53] description and really

[11:54] appreciate your good work. Thank

[11:56] you. Mr President, thank you

[11:57] very much madam Speaker and yes

[11:59] members you'll recall the

[12:01] House Bill261422 sponsored by

[12:04] SenatorRoel Rep Clifford myself

[12:05] created the administrative

[12:05] legislative safety for the

[12:06] alleged department

[12:09] and this is intended to be a

[12:10] dedicated individual for members

[12:13] of the general assembly to help

[12:15] receive, review and triage

[12:16] threats and coordinate with CSP

[12:19] it's providing members

[12:20] security services in these

[12:22] circumstances and assist where

[12:24] applicable in criminal and civil

[12:26] investigations across multiple

[12:27] jurisdictions. CSP does a great

[12:31] job and they also serve so many

[12:33] folks with this new position

[12:35] would do is be our liaison with

[12:35] CSP and solely focus on

[12:38] our safety as legislators

[12:39] especially given the political

[12:41] climate we all see ourselves in

[12:44] and many folks including CSP and

[12:45] the judicial department have

[12:46] worked to help provide input and

[12:48] feedback for this job

[12:50] description and positions so we

[12:51] can ensure they work

[12:53] harmoniously and that's what I

[12:55] have I just say this is a

[12:56] there's a much more detailed

[12:57] drafted job description if

[12:58] anybody would like to have that

[12:59] I'm more than happy to provide

[13:00] that to you. It goes more in

[13:01] depth of the job duties and

[13:01] qualifications for the position.

[13:05] any questions

[13:10] I I wanna lift up and

[13:15] I I think it's a sad thing but

[13:16] some days it's also joyous. I

[13:19] won't be here next year and it

[13:22] feels like this is a good

[13:24] time to be moving forward on

[13:25] both the job description the

[13:27] recruiting and the hiring for

[13:29] this position as you all may

[13:31] remember the bill established

[13:34] the position to be a part of the

[13:36] legislative management team of

[13:39] the legislative branch and so

[13:40] with the draft job description

[13:44] that is now available. I

[13:46] would like to see us work with

[13:48] LCS in getting the job,

[13:50] posted and start moving forward

[13:52] with recruiting and retention

[13:54] process. Mr President, I don't

[13:56] know if you have any input on

[13:58] how that process would proceed.

[14:00] um, but it feels like if we

[14:01] could get the individual in

[14:03] place by legislative session

[14:06] that would be a significant

[14:09] bonus for all of our members

[14:10] don't know if there's any follow

[14:11] up or feedback from

[14:12] anybody who might be in the

[14:14] crowd that wants to offer any

[14:15] perspective but do we have

[14:16] additional

[14:19] an additional executive

[14:19] committee hearing between now

[14:20] and end of the year

[14:24] I believe we will be we do

[14:25] need

[14:29] to entertain openme law,

[14:31] public hearing so that will

[14:34] occur between now and then. um,

[14:36] although it is probably worth us

[14:40] working on a timeline. I'm

[14:41] I'm not sure that we would be

[14:44] able to uh, post recruit and

[14:47] retain a a person say by October

[14:48] that might be a little bit

[14:49] quick. We may need additional

[14:49] time for this. OK

[14:55] umm minority leaders either of

[14:56] you have any input? Are you

[14:58] comfortable with the timeline

[15:01] that targets legislative

[15:01] session

[15:02] great

[15:05] and

[15:08] we have talked with the

[15:11] legislative council staff about

[15:12] the salary for this position

[15:14] that it could be something

[15:18] accommodated either by

[15:21] what we have in the budget or

[15:23] through a legislative cash fund

[15:25] transfers so that will be our

[15:25] plan

[15:27] right?

[15:29] thank you Mr President

[15:33] our aid badge program

[15:41] this is fun

[15:44] we have both our secretary of

[15:46] the senate Esther Vannerc and

[15:48] chief clerk of the house Vanessa

[15:49] Riley. I don't know who wants to

[15:50] proceed

[15:53] madam Secretary

[15:57] oh, I was I was going to ask

[15:58] madam clerk to start

[16:01] madam Chief clerk. thank you

[16:02] madam Speaker Vanessa Riilly

[16:04] chief clerk. we are here

[16:07] again to ask for a vote on the

[16:08] future of the aid badge

[16:13] programme. if you recall the

[16:15] last executive committee meeting

[16:17] earlier this summer. you all

[16:17] discussed

[16:20] how the program was going, asked

[16:22] for some additional information

[16:24] umestster and I but the

[16:26] secretary of the senate and I

[16:28] were both able to work with CSP

[16:29] to

[16:34] provide information about usage

[16:35] by the aides during session

[16:39] which we emailed you a couple of

[16:40] weeks ago but just as a little

[16:43] refresher of the 101 house aides

[16:44] who have

[16:48] who were currently who were

[16:50] employed during session 33 of

[16:53] them accessed used their badge

[16:55] to access the building between

[16:57] the hours of5 p.m. and7 a.m. or

[17:00] on the weekends I believe for

[17:02] the senate it was 3 of51.

[17:06] and I'm happy to answer any

[17:07] other questions.

[17:10] thank you. Anything to add madam

[17:14] Secretary? No ma'am. thank you.

[17:15] thank youembers any comments

[17:19] minority leader Simpson thank

[17:22] you madam Speaker like is there

[17:24] any more clarity around the data

[17:25] like why

[17:30] aids accessed or the number was

[17:33] it like the same person is the

[17:33] number reflective of the total

[17:36] number of employees that

[17:38] actually used it or and and or

[17:40] how many times they need it or

[17:42] used its just a little more

[17:43] granularity in the data

[17:44] madam Chief clerk

[17:47] thank you madampeaker minority

[17:48] leader Simpson, I think there's

[17:49] a

[17:52] you're right to have those

[17:53] questions there's a little bit

[17:55] of nuance to this data here.

[17:56] I think

[18:02] first off on the house side we

[18:06] had about 90% of the aids who

[18:08] obtained badges roughly 10% of

[18:10] our aids never obtained a

[18:11] security badge. so

[18:16] the 11 aids was the list of aids

[18:18] that I sent to CSP to find out

[18:21] who had access to capital in

[18:24] those after hours time periods

[18:25] for

[18:27] personnel reasons CSP

[18:32] provided the number of unique

[18:34] users whoever access the

[18:36] building, not the number of

[18:38] times they accessed

[18:39] and I

[18:43] do think that there's even more

[18:46] nuance in that they provided us

[18:48] with a number of times someone

[18:50] accessed the building between5

[18:52] p.m. and7 a.m. which as you know

[18:54] is not necessarily the same as

[18:56] our business hours.

[18:58] committees particularly House

[19:00] committees often run past5 p.m

[19:03] the building would be open but I

[19:05] imagine that there are

[19:08] situations just as any of the

[19:10] other staff, you know me folks

[19:11] from any of the a

[19:13] gen c ies will access the

[19:15] building through one of the

[19:16] locked doors rather than going

[19:18] through one of the security

[19:22] entrances various times of

[19:24] day I'm confident that some of

[19:27] the aids accessing the building

[19:30] between5 p.m. and7 a.m we're

[19:31] doing so when the building was

[19:33] open and using one of those

[19:34] nonstaffed entrances.

[19:35] but

[19:39] without providing CSP a list of

[19:40] the days when House committees

[19:41] ran past5 p.m

[19:44] they were not able to

[19:46] necessarily say definitively

[19:48] these 33 folks who accessed the

[19:50] building did so when the

[19:51] building was closed.

[19:55] madam Secretary, thank you madam

[19:56] Speaker and Mr minority

[19:58] leaderader same thing for the

[20:00] senate we weren't able to get

[20:02] more granularity in that data

[20:04] and as madam Chief clerk said

[20:06] that for the senate it was

[20:08] really only 3 of our aides who

[20:09] accessed the building after

[20:10] hours within that same

[20:12] explanation of what that could

[20:13] have entailed so

[20:16] happy to answer any other

[20:18] questions with respect to just

[20:20] the general question of

[20:23] extending this pilot program

[20:25] I think the one thing that I

[20:27] would leave with you all is just

[20:30] a request to remind all of your

[20:32] members that it's imperative to

[20:34] let us know when they are off

[20:36] boarding one of their aids so

[20:37] that we can really make sure

[20:40] that we get the aid access badge

[20:42] returned to us and that we

[20:43] can also turn deactivate it with

[20:44] CSP so

[20:46] that there is no access outside

[20:50] of their working hours anymore.

[20:51] so that I think is just a

[20:52] critical messaging that we're

[20:54] all asking you all to help us

[20:55] with

[20:57] sometimes we still hear after

[21:00] the fact that an age aid has off

[21:02] boarded and we prefer to not be

[21:03] in those situations so we can

[21:04] make sure to get those access

[21:05] badges returned and and turned

[21:06] off

[21:10] madam Chief clerk, thank you

[21:12] madam Speaker just to piggyback

[21:14] on that particularly during the

[21:18] interim lots of aids are off

[21:20] boarding and members may not be

[21:23] hiring new aids right away or

[21:26] ever often the way that we

[21:29] learn and aid has offboarded is

[21:30] when someone arrives in house

[21:32] services and says I've just been

[21:33] hired byre representative so and

[21:36] so and today is my first day and

[21:37] then we look and say you know

[21:38] this person already has

[21:42] two aides who has left and in

[21:44] this time of year it's if if we

[21:45] don't have new folks showing up

[21:48] then we are likely to be missing

[21:53] majority leader rodriguez, oh

[21:53] you're muted thank you.

[21:58] thank you. I'm sorry madam Chief

[21:59] clerk. so

[22:02] really appreciate that reminder

[22:04] and

[22:10] have to contemplate how we can

[22:11] do a better job of communicating

[22:12] that we did conduct a survey

[22:14] with our members and

[22:16] overwhelmingly they would like

[22:18] to see this continue and with 33

[22:21] aids utilizing I don't doubt

[22:22] that whether it was bringing

[22:24] dinner in or something that

[22:28] caused an aid to use their badge

[22:31] it was necessary that you

[22:33] know the house does most of the

[22:36] hard work and stays late and

[22:37] works weekends so

[22:39] it made sense to me that there

[22:40] was more usage in the house.

[22:42] What was that senator Simpson?

[22:44] we are not inefficient minority

[22:47] leader Caldwell thank you

[22:48] madampeaker and I was actually

[22:49] going to make the same exact

[22:59] point that I think it's

[23:00] indicative that we work harder

[23:01] and stay later and that's why so

[23:01] many more of our aids access

[23:02] the building after5 p.m. I do

[23:02] have a quick question for you

[23:03] madam Chief clerk I believe I

[23:04] asked this question the last

[23:07] time we had a meeting to discuss

[23:08] this issue but has there been

[23:11] any instances or I guess

[23:14] incidents with aids accessing

[23:16] the building in the interim

[23:17] since our last meeting

[23:20] madam Chief clerk, thank you

[23:22] madampeaker. Mr minority

[23:24] leaderader I don't know if any

[23:26] aids have accessed the building

[23:28] after hours in the interim. I do

[23:30] know that the last time I spoke

[23:33] with CSP about this we did not

[23:36] have any instances of access

[23:38] that CSP felt were inappropriate

[23:39] or where we needed to take

[23:42] action and I'm confident that

[23:44] if anything had happened in that

[23:46] vein that we would have been

[23:47] notified right away.

[23:47] thank you

[23:48] I would

[23:54] one moment madam Secretary, I

[23:55] would just offer that I think if

[23:58] any staff member were to access

[24:00] the building inappropriately or

[24:01] activity were to occur

[24:02] regardless of whether they are

[24:05] aid or other staff that action

[24:07] would need to be taken and I

[24:09] think that applies universally,

[24:09] madam Secretary.

[24:12] madampeaker thank you just

[24:13] wanted to let the senators know

[24:15] that exactly the same experience

[24:16] in the senate you know

[24:18] diddo

[24:19] great

[24:23] Mr President, thank you very

[24:23] much madam Speaker

[24:30] I moved to permanently

[24:31] authorized security bads for

[24:32] legislative aids to allow

[24:33] ongoing access to Capitol

[24:35] building and to authorize access

[24:37] legislative to legislative

[24:38] services building to aids

[24:39] working for a member of the

[24:40] joint budgetgetittee effective

[24:43] immediately been properly

[24:44] seconded by majorjority

[24:46] leaderader Duran. M Kurtzhelan,

[24:48] please poll the committee. Oh

[24:49] yes, Senator Simpson.

[24:53] thank you madam Majority Leader

[24:53] or madam Speaker

[24:56] the guy struggled with this

[24:58] concept when we were in rolling

[25:00] out the pilot and look I

[25:01] continue it doesn't have

[25:06] tremendous usage 30 out of 100 3

[25:12] out of50 Im just not sure this

[25:14] is worth the risk that we expose

[25:17] ourselves to potentially and to

[25:18] highlight this gap that says oh

[25:20] yeah we have aidDS potentially

[25:21] leaving and we don't get

[25:22] notified and what happens to the

[25:23] badge and who has it

[25:26] I just still uncomfortable with

[25:30] this concept. there's a path for

[25:32] aids to access through the state

[25:34] patrol where it's more

[25:38] controlled and I think creates a

[25:39] safer environment for everybody

[25:42] in the building and am still not

[25:44] comfortable with this this

[25:46] aid badge access programme.

[25:49] minority leader Caldwell

[25:52] thank you madam Speaker and and

[25:53] I tend to agree with

[25:58] my colleague minority

[26:00] leaderimpson here I it as a

[26:03] former aide myself and

[26:05] also as a military member before

[26:06] you know when we talk about

[26:10] access to installation or a

[26:11] building you know we use our our

[26:14] government issueidD cards in the

[26:15] in the military and it is it is

[26:18] very very tightly controlled for

[26:20] the simple security reason of if

[26:22] you even lose your badge and

[26:24] somebody finds it they could

[26:25] gain access to like a

[26:26] for instance a military

[26:29] installation and what what

[26:31] concerns me and and this isn't a

[26:33] knock towards the aids it's

[26:34] actually kind of I guess maybe

[26:36] more on on ourselves sometimes

[26:39] is is something that was

[26:41] highlighted here is that our

[26:42] some of our own members some of

[26:44] my members who have high

[26:45] turnovers of legislative aids

[26:49] and and not doing what they

[26:50] should which is notifying you

[26:52] all to make sure that badges get

[26:54] turned in or deactivated and

[27:00] I just it does concern me that

[27:02] you're we went from having you

[27:04] know x amount of badges that can

[27:06] access the building to basically

[27:08] I don't know what the actual

[27:10] number is but doubling it almost

[27:12] with this program and and it

[27:15] concerns me and so while I

[27:17] understand the benefits of an

[27:19] aid having a badge and I'm sure

[27:20] probably when I was an aid I was

[27:22] probably thinking to myself I

[27:23] would like to have an access

[27:24] badge it overall just kind of

[27:28] does concern me and so I'll

[27:29] respectfully be a note today.

[27:37] I think I like to end on just a

[27:38] couple of comments and I did not

[27:42] hear either of you disrespect

[27:44] the aid corps. I did not hear

[27:45] that but I do want to lift up

[27:48] that we've worked very hard to

[27:50] professionalize our staff

[27:51] these past few years by

[27:56] increasing wages providing

[27:58] benefits helping to make this

[28:00] you know the entry job to a

[28:01] career hopefully in the legisla

[28:05] ture or in in state government

[28:09] and I do know that for the

[28:12] aidS certainly from members

[28:15] of my caucus who are here late

[28:16] at night there has been an

[28:19] appreciation that their aids can

[28:22] come and go as needed. and or

[28:24] when the work goes beyond the

[28:25] normal hours and people need to

[28:27] come in there's value in that.

[28:30] I will be supportive of this.

[28:31] I would ask for additional

[28:32] assistance

[28:36] on how we can ensure that

[28:37] anytime there is turnover in the

[28:39] aid corps that we are notified

[28:40] we are notifying you both

[28:42] immediately and I am happy to

[28:43] assist with that before I leave.

[28:48] oh, Senator Simpson you madam

[28:50] Speaker just one other question

[28:51] we had talked when we were

[28:52] constructing the pilot program

[28:56] about the requirement that that

[28:58] the legislator had to authorize

[29:00] the request. I don't know if

[29:01] that's what's going to be

[29:01] adopted in the in the

[29:03] permanent

[29:04] program

[29:08] madam Chief clerk thank you

[29:12] madampeaker after the last

[29:14] meeting where we discussed this

[29:16] the secretary and I

[29:19] made some changes to the

[29:21] acknowledgement forum for aids

[29:22] so that

[29:25] in order to obtain a ba a new

[29:27] badge an aid must first receive

[29:28] the approval of their managing

[29:30] legislator and I don't see any

[29:31] reason why we would

[29:34] roll that back if the program

[29:35] were to continue.

[29:39] and that may be the place where

[29:40] we could also reinforce the

[29:42] legislators responsibilities

[29:45] here there might be an

[29:45] opportunity to strengthen that

[29:48] OK, Miss Kurtzhelan roll call

[29:49] please

[29:51] en er ner s and representatives

[29:51] Caldwell no

[29:52] Duran

[29:55] yes rodriguez

[30:00] simpson no

[30:05] Mr President Madampeaker yes,

[30:06] that passes on a vote of4 to 2.

[30:12] Next on our agenda we have an

[30:14] update on the NCSL grant and I

[30:16] will invite M Berger,

[30:19] to speak about

[30:24] I I guess I'm I'm not sure

[30:25] exactly where we are with the

[30:27] grant so it's probably worth a

[30:27] little bit of background as well

[30:31] thank you madam chairir,

[30:32] members of the committee

[30:33] Elizabeth Berger with

[30:34] legislative council staff happy

[30:35] to revisit an an issue that

[30:38] you've heard about in various

[30:39] channels throughout the course

[30:41] of the year I've talked to to I

[30:43] know that you've heard an update

[30:45] from Natalie at an executive

[30:46] committee I've talked to many of

[30:47] your staff about this program

[30:50] too so happy to to pull that

[30:51] all togetherther for you today.

[30:52] the national conference of

[30:54] state Legislatures offered

[30:56] states the opportunity to apply

[30:58] for a grant the purpose of

[30:59] the grant is to

[31:01] provide reimbursements to

[31:03] legislators who use the grant

[31:05] funding to purchase personal

[31:07] security items or training for

[31:09] themselves colorado is able

[31:12] to apply for that grant at

[31:13] toward the end of the session

[31:17] and we were awarded $20,000 so

[31:19] we have put together a policy

[31:20] for the distribution of that

[31:23] funding under that policy $200

[31:25] per member is available to for

[31:28] reimbursing eligible security

[31:29] expenses those expenses

[31:33] include things like the fees

[31:35] for a monitor security

[31:38] monitoring service something

[31:40] like a delete me which is a

[31:44] software that helps you monitor

[31:45] personal information that's

[31:48] publicly available. security

[31:50] trainings or self defense

[31:52] trainings and equipment when

[31:54] caveat about the purchase of

[31:58] equipment is that to ensure

[31:59] that Colorado is complying

[32:02] with ethical requirements and

[32:03] requirements about the receipt

[32:06] of funding we are asking that

[32:07] any legislators that seek the

[32:09] reimbursement for equipment,

[32:11] return the equipment when they

[32:14] leave office and that just

[32:16] make sure that we are complying

[32:17] with all the requirements

[32:19] related to the to gifts while in

[32:19] office

[32:22] so that policy is now in

[32:24] place the funding is available

[32:26] to members to seek reimbursement

[32:28] legislators should have

[32:29] received a com communication

[32:31] from me last week notifying them

[32:32] about the availability of this

[32:34] funding, how to apply for it the

[32:36] reimbursement is available

[32:38] through October 1fth of this

[32:39] year and I know that that's a

[32:42] very short window of time so

[32:43] happy to continue to

[32:46] communicate about that window

[32:48] and hoping to yeah spread the

[32:49] word about the availability of

[32:50] this funding

[32:52] so happy to answer any questions

[32:52] about that.

[32:56] Miss Berger. I have already

[32:59] given feedback October 1fth is

[33:00] impossible and we have an

[33:03] entirely new class of

[33:04] legislators that will be joining

[33:07] our ranks postNnovember

[33:10] election. has there been

[33:12] discussion with NCSL about

[33:14] extending the state so that new

[33:16] legislators can take advantage

[33:18] of it. M Berger yeah thank you

[33:20] madam Chair. I appreciate that

[33:22] yeah it's a it's an

[33:23] incredibly short window where

[33:23] we've ended up here

[33:28] I have asked NCSL about the

[33:30] time frames. I think that there

[33:32] plan as far as I understood

[33:33] it when they made the funding

[33:35] opportunity available was to

[33:37] to pilot this initial

[33:42] initial round of funding see

[33:43] what the uptake was amongst all

[33:44] of the states and then if there

[33:47] was funding after that to do a

[33:50] second award at that time I'm

[33:53] not sure why the time frame was

[33:55] set prior to the election

[33:58] but I'm I'm hopeful that there

[34:00] will be a second funding

[34:02] opportunity made available that

[34:04] would be able to capture

[34:06] legislators after the election

[34:07] realize the difficulty there

[34:11] so thank you. Other questions?

[34:16] pp re ci ate your good work and

[34:17] we'll stay in touch. We want to

[34:19] make sure that sitting members

[34:22] do take advantage of this

[34:23] opportunity.

[34:24] thank you madam Cha happy to

[34:26] continue to to work with NCSL on

[34:27] any opportunities they may

[34:29] provide. Thank you. thank you

[34:34] and finally on our agenda it is

[34:36] still you the language exis

[34:39] needs assessment RSP RFP

[34:41] thank you madam chair and

[34:42] members of the committee. yes

[34:44] again keeping you from

[34:46] adjournment so I apologize for

[34:48] that as you may recall in

[34:53] 2024 there was a group of of

[34:55] legislators advocates other

[34:56] experts called the

[34:56] languagenguage Access boardard

[34:58] that met over the interim to

[35:00] make recommendations about

[35:01] improving

[35:03] language access to the

[35:05] legislative process for folks

[35:06] with limited English

[35:08] proficiency. that group

[35:10] issued a final report with

[35:11] recommendations one of their

[35:13] recommendations was that the

[35:15] executive committee continued

[35:17] to discuss this issue and

[35:18] consider issuing and

[35:20] conducting an assessment for

[35:21] language access needs in the

[35:22] legislature

[35:25] so we're separate from that

[35:27] process and building from it a

[35:29] group of language access

[35:32] advocates has continued this

[35:34] work and been meeting to discuss

[35:36] how to prove language access

[35:40] access for for populations with

[35:41] limited English proficiency

[35:45] and they have put together some

[35:47] draft a draft suggestion which

[35:50] I've incorporated in a request

[35:51] for proposals which you should

[35:51] have before you today

[35:55] so the language of the

[35:57] requirements of the request for

[35:58] proposals has come from this

[36:00] group but essentially folds

[36:03] it into an RFP process for your

[36:05] consideration if you approve

[36:08] the RFP it outlines the

[36:10] requirements or the RFP proposes

[36:13] to hire an outside contractor to

[36:14] conduct this assessment the RFP

[36:17] outlines the process that that

[36:18] contractor would need to follow

[36:20] the end result would be a report

[36:21] of recommendations that will

[36:22] come back to the

[36:24] executive committee with

[36:26] specific recommendations about

[36:28] actions that the legislature

[36:30] and the executive committee may

[36:31] consider to improve language

[36:34] access. the group has told me

[36:36] that the process outlined in

[36:38] your draft RFP they expect would

[36:40] take about a year to complete so

[36:43] that's I think the time frame

[36:44] you could expect for a

[36:46] contractor. of course you can

[36:47] the the deadlines and

[36:49] requirements for for when the

[36:50] report would come back or when

[36:51] it's issued our blank currently

[36:52] so

[36:55] looking for input about what

[36:57] you would want there if this was

[36:59] going to move forward so happy

[37:01] to answer any questions about

[37:04] the RFP process or the the

[37:05] report from the languagenguage

[37:06] Aiss coalition that led to the

[37:07] RFP.

[37:10] at a majority leader. thank you

[37:12] madam Chair. I don't have any

[37:13] questions. I just wanted to say

[37:15] thank you. I know this has been

[37:17] from the beginning till now a

[37:19] lot of work and a and a big

[37:20] commitment but so grateful and

[37:22] appreciative that you're

[37:23] connecting with community and

[37:24] you're connecting with experts

[37:26] and others to make sure we do

[37:27] this right we're just not

[37:29] jumping in and trying to do

[37:30] something that we're really

[37:31] trying to hone in and really

[37:33] meet the needs of community so

[37:34] just want to say thank you for

[37:36] that and so appreciative and

[37:37] I'll keep following this

[37:38] thank you

[37:42] M Berger, this does apply not

[37:45] only to languages but also deaf

[37:48] and hard of hearing, M Berer yes

[37:50] that is true the the community

[37:53] has suggested that both issues

[37:56] be contemplated in any RFP

[37:57] issued by the executive

[37:57] committee.

[37:58] excellent

[38:02] penny minority leader Simpson

[38:04] thank you madampeaker have other

[38:06] states other legislators

[38:08] legislations taking this task on

[38:10] already I

[38:14] I do I'm aware that oregon has a

[38:16] fairly robust language access

[38:18] program. I believe they have

[38:20] inhouse office to provide

[38:23] language access services and

[38:24] I believe that's also combined

[38:28] with any sort of

[38:28] accommodations for deaf and hard

[38:29] of hearing

[38:31] individuals as well. I'm happy

[38:32] to research that further and

[38:34] follow up but I believe they're

[38:35] the best example that's coming

[38:36] to mind as they sit here

[38:42] seeing no further discussion we

[38:43] don't need a motion on this

[38:45] today, correct? Thank you M

[38:45] Berger.

[38:48] members any other business

[38:49] for the good of the group?

[38:53] the question was raised will

[38:55] there be another meeting? I

[38:57] think as all of you are aware

[38:59] once new leadership is elected

[39:02] for the seventy6th General

[39:03] assembly there will be the

[39:05] formation of a

[39:07] an executive committee for the

[39:11] seventy6th and a we will stay on

[39:12] as the executive committee for

[39:15] the seventyfifth. Um, hopefully

[39:17] that means that the seventyixth

[39:19] executive committee gets all the

[39:20] hard work and that we get to

[39:24] coast from here on outs oh

[39:25] Directorcastssell's gonna

[39:27] correct me on thatrectorcaststle

[39:30] Natalie Cass the legislative

[39:31] council staff no you are

[39:32] absolutely correct. I just sat

[39:34] down to tell you all that that

[39:36] if this is our last meeting how

[39:37] much I love working for all of

[39:40] you and that includes youmel

[39:43] rodriguez online I am so

[39:44] grateful for the work of this

[39:46] committee and and your

[39:47] leadership and for your support

[39:49] of staff. thank you so much for

[39:50] everything you've done. Thank

[39:51] you

[39:54] and on that happy note seeing

[39:56] no further business the legis

[39:57] the executive committee of the

[39:58] legislative council is

[39:59] adjourned.

Executive Committee of the Legislative Council [Sep 03, 2026 - Upon Adjournment]

Agenda

Transcript