The Senate committee moved a block of gubernatorial nominees to the full Senate with a recommendation for confirmation after a lengthy round of individual testimonies Monday. Committee members heard from about 61 prospective appointees representing state boards and commissions; the committee chair explained that 39 of those were required to appear in person.

Nominees who testified included Kimberly Dixon for the Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs; Jamie Whipple for the Behavior Analysis Regulatory Board; Sage Connolly for the Board of Boiler Rules; Malik Seals as the student representative to the Oregon Health & Science University board; Devarshi Bajpai, Kelly Minty and Kurt Huffman for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission; Fiona Wild and Jeff Cunningham for the State Marine Board; and numerous others across higher-education trusteeships, professional licensing boards and advisory commissions.

Committee members generally praised the nominees’ qualifications. Vice Chair Bonham, however, placed a public objection to the process and said she would vote no on the block motion because she remains concerned about transparency in how nominees are identified and vetted. Bonham said, in part, that she wanted “to be part of a process that that generates the list and then vets the list and affirms the list as opposed to just somebody that affirms the list,” and that she could not “say enough good things” about the nominees but was “stuck” on process questions.

After brief remarks from several senators affirming the quality of the nominees, the committee took a roll call on the block motion to move the list to the Senate floor with a recommendation they be confirmed. The roll call in the transcript recorded ayes from Senator Bolden, Senator Manning, Senator Vander (Vander unspecified in title), Judge Tapper and others, and a no from Vice Chair Bonham. Chair Johnson announced the motion passed. The committee chair indicated willingness to carry the nominations package to the floor.

Logistics noted during the public hearing: the committee set time limits for individual nominee statements (about 90 seconds; the chair said the committee would enforce roughly one minute to one minute 15 seconds during the hearing) and advised that nominees could be asked questions immediately after their testimony and were free to leave afterward.

The committee forwarded the slate to the full Senate for consideration with a recommendation for confirmation; individual nominees will appear in the Senate record and receive floor consideration according to Senate procedures.