Christine Reeves, chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, opened the committee’s Jan. 15 work session by setting ground rules for conduct and procedure and describing the panel’s policy priorities for the 2025 session.

Reeves said the committee will prioritize “community-centered, solution-oriented problem solving” with a focus on climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and food security. “What? So what? Now what?” she said, describing three questions she wants members to use when framing legislation and testimony.

The guidance mattered because the committee also received a staff briefing on the panel’s jurisdiction, which covers agricultural production and marketing, animal and livestock health, pesticide and fertilizer regulation, food policy, forestry and forest health, fisheries and wildlife management, salmon recovery, wildfire prevention and response, land management on department-managed trust lands, and water quantity issues. Rebecca Lewis, the committee’s nonpartisan research analyst, and Lily Smith, senior counsel, gave a short recap of those categories and examples members are likely to see this session.

Reeves laid out procedural expectations: agendas are planned a week in advance and must be submitted by Monday morning to be scheduled; the official institution deadline for agendas is noon on Tuesday; bills must be assigned a bill number and be formally referred to this committee before they can be scheduled for hearing; members should use the electronic bill book (EBB) for materials rather than paper; and visual aids must have advance approval from the chair. She also said meetings will start and end promptly and that recognition by the chair is required before speaking.

On behavior, Reeves emphasized civility and collaboration. She described three guiding rules—her “Reeves 3 C’s”: community-centered, civility and collaboration—and asked members to share proposals with both leadership and opposing-party staff in advance so there are “no surprises.” The chair also noted some informal expectations intended to make the room accessible, including requests that members refrain from strong perfumes and that leadership sit near microphones to facilitate the record.

Ranking Member Tom Dent (R), who represents a largely agricultural district, echoed the emphasis on bipartisanship and urged members to remember the real‑world pressures facing producers, including economic strain and mental‑health challenges among farming communities. He said committee work “can do something about” problems producers face and encouraged members to visit farms to see those challenges firsthand.

Staff provided practical notes about agency roles and overlaps. Lewis said issues such as forest health and wildfire preparedness overlap between the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW); Lily Smith noted that DNR leads wildfire prevention, suppression cost recovery and causation investigations and that water quality jurisdiction lies with the Environment Committee while water‑quantity questions may come to this panel.

The chair closed by inviting members to bring forward legislation and said two bills she introduced in prior sessions—the carbon sequestration on state lands bill and a social equity land trust bill—are expected back before the committee.

The committee adjourned with plans for further work‑sessions later in the week and a reminder from the chair that committee guidelines and expectations would be circulated to members by email.