Members of the conference committee on Senate Bill 2004 paused their work after legislative counsel flagged a conflict between a newly added subsection and existing statutory procedure for handling alleged violations.

Liz Fordall of Legislative Council told the committee that "there there is a bit of a conflict," pointing to new language in a proposed section 13 that says the executive director prepares a report and recommendation and that "the Commission may issue an alleged violation, require additional investigation, or close the matter." Fordall said that language conflicts with existing language elsewhere in the code that describes the Commission determining whether a violation has occurred.

The potential clash centers on how the bill would handle closure and issuance of alleged violations: Fordall noted the new subsection 1 adds a different procedure from the existing code provision spoken of during the meeting. She told conferees the mixed language appears to have come from other draft bills discussed during the session and that keeping subsection 1 alongside the existing statutory text "adds a lot of confusion" about which procedure should govern.

Representative Hansen, a member of the committee, suggested a straightforward fix: "It seems like a possible solution would be to move to eliminate section 13." Fordall told members that removing subsection 1 while retaining the other new subsections would likely resolve the conflict.

Members also debated an unrelated but linked negotiation over staffing. A House conferee said the House's position "has not changed on the addition of the FTE" and offered to remove references to a 180-day timeline in exchange for adding the staff position. A Senate conferee replied that the Senate "believes the FTE is very important" and said the Senate had already moved to accommodate the House's 180-day provision; the Senate conferee said the chamber was not willing to abandon adding staff resources.

Several members said they had not previously realized the conflict in subsection 1. Senator Davidson told the committee he had been unaware of the issue and recommended waiting for the revised bill language before continuing discussion.

With conferees divided on whether to excise subsection 1 or pursue the House–Senate trade (FTE for removing the 180‑day reference), the panel recessed to await a new amendment and further direction. The chair closed the meeting by asking for any final comments and then saying, "let's adjourn till 1PM."