The Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources amended and advanced Senate Bill 58, which reorganizes provisions governing multiyear flex accounts and modifies reporting requirements.

Tamara Lawrence, reviser of statutes, gave a brief overview saying the bill would modify the allocation calculation and reorganize provisions; she also noted the bill would change a reporting frequency from annual to every three years in the reviser's draft. Senator Mercedes Francisco offered an amendment to make the reporting due on or before Jan. 15, 2029 and thereafter every four years, a change intended to align report delivery with the beginning of a Senate term and give committees more time to react to findings. "If we got information that a committee wanted to react to, it would be almost impossible to get a bill drafted and worked with that information," Francisco said, explaining the timing rationale.

Senator Titus, who had worked on the bill, said the program had an annual report in place since 2001 and that shifting frequency reflected confidence in the program and a desire not to burden committees with annual reports. Senator Alley asked about risks of moving reporting to a four-year schedule; supporters replied they believed risk to be low given the program's history.

The committee approved Francisco's amendment on a motion by the sponsor and a voice vote (second by Senator Titus). The chair also moved and the committee approved authorization for the reviser to make a technical amendment correcting a committee name reference in the bill (to read "Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources").

Senator Titus then moved that the committee recommend Senate Bill 58 favorably for passage as amended; the motion was seconded by Senator Francisco and approved by voice vote. Committee members did not record numerical tallies in the hearing record. The bill will advance to the Senate calendar for further action.