The Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee discussed House Bill 1318 during its April 4 afternoon session and agreed to delay action while staff draft an amendment to remove problematic language. Committee members said the phrase on line 7, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law," had been flagged by attorneys as troublesome and should be removed.

"The first section of words on line 7 of 13 18, 'Notwithstanding any other provision of law' — those six words there are troublesome," Chairman Lewick said, reporting that the recommendation to remove them came from both a House-side attorney and legislative counsel. He said he was having an amendment crafted to address that language and that he did not favor a sunset clause because it could create logistical problems if an issue arose during the clause's timeframe.

Senator Meridahl asked whether the amendment being discussed was the final amendment; the chair replied the amendment was being prepared and that the bill would be held in committee until next Thursday morning to allow time for the change. The transcript records the chair saying, "I'm not going to we are we will not be moving on this until next Thursday morning," and later, "We still hold it here in the committee."

No roll-call vote or formal motion to advance or reject HB1318 was recorded in the transcript. The committee recorded no amendments adopted at this meeting; instead, the chair said staff and counsel would draft an amendment and the item would be revisited.

The committee’s discussion focused on the specific line of statutory text and the advisability of a sunset clause rather than on a broader set of policy options; no final policy decision was made at the meeting.