A Government and Veterans Affairs conference committee voted 6-0 to adopt conference committee amendments that add permissive reporting language giving the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission the authority to receive reports on certain state construction and remodeling projects.

Representative Greenberg said the committee met with Michelle Strinden and Chairman Satrim and proposed language that would let the Capitol Grounds Planning Commission "may receive reports on new facility construction or remodeling projects exceeding $5,000,000 including owned and leased facilities from which the state operates, excluding facilities operated by entities under state board of higher education and national guard." The language discussed would be added to the Senate version (04/2001) in section 1 with section 2 removed.

The committee debated whether the wording should be "may receive" or "may request." A senator questioned whether "may receive" would make it unclear how reports would arrive and suggested "may request" as an alternative; the committee agreed to keep the more permissive "may receive" wording so the commission would not be required to act but could be given authorization to see projects when appropriate.

Motion by Senator Barta to adopt the conference committee amendments was seconded by Representative Bale and passed on a roll call in which Chairman Satrim, Representative Bale, Representative Greenberg, Senator Brownberger, Senator Barta and Senator Casaneda voted yes (6-0-0). Committee staff said they will work with the legislative services office on exact placement of the sentence in section 1 before the measure returns to the floor.

A committee member noted the language had been reviewed by senior advisers in the governor's office and by Al Doorman, and that those advisers approved the recommended language. With the committee’s adoption of the amendments, members said the amended version will return to the floor as the committee’s formal amendment.

The vote and the committee’s action replace the amendments previously adopted by the separate chambers; the committee described this as rejecting the chamber amendments in favor of the conference committee language. No further votes on the full bill were taken in this meeting; committee members discussed finding floor carriers for each chamber before adjournment.