House Bill 33, a local measure affecting the city of Alexandria, was moved favorably by the House Committee on Municipal, Provincial and Cultural Affairs after lawmakers heard from the bill's sponsor and Alexandria officials.

The bill would add an exemption to Alexandria's classified civil service for a position that provides city computer operations, including direct services to the municipal information system, electronic security systems and other information-technology functions designed to prevent disruption and compromise of sensitive information.

Sponsor Speaker Pro Tem Mike Johnson said the change applies only to Alexandria and is intended to allow the city to appoint and pay a qualified IT/cybersecurity operator outside of the classified-civil-service hiring process. "We are simply asking that you, by statute, allow us to exempt that position from the list of classified employees," Johnson said. He described the need as driven by hiring difficulty and pay competition with larger cities.

Jacques Roy, mayor of Alexandria, told the committee the city has experienced ransomware-style breaches in the past that halted utility billing and other operations. "What we discovered is you need to be nimble in this set of positions," Roy said, urging that civil-service rules can slow an immediate response to serious cybersecurity incidents.

Several committee members pressed for procedural clarifications. Representative Marshall asked whether the bill had been properly advertised; sponsor Johnson and the mayor confirmed it had. Representative Stagney asked whether a resolution from the governing authority was on file; the mayor said there was not a resolution but described executive-session briefings the council had held on findings after an earlier breach. Representative Knox described the bill as a "reasonable request" based on experiences in New Orleans and said he would encourage colleagues to support it.

Representative Marcel made the motion to report the bill favorably. The chair asked for objections; none were raised and the committee moved the bill to the floor.

The bill does not change the classification or pay rules for other Alexandria employees and, according to testimony, would leave most municipal positions within the classified civil service while creating a narrowly defined unclassified appointment for the cybersecurity/IT function.

Committee action: moved favorably to the House floor. The committee record shows no roll-call tally for this motion; the chair announced no objections and advanced the bill.

Looking ahead: If the House approves the measure it will next be considered by the full House; the bill as presented applies only to the city of Alexandria and does not amend statewide civil-service law.