Item 3D: Ratification of IGR Meeting Minutes

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4. Update on United Front Plans Ms. Walston said that representatives of Smith Dawson would be in town on December 5 at 10 a.m. to discuss the City’s federal legislative priorities with Mayor Kitty Piercy. She did not anticipate that Congress would do any more significant work during the remainder of the year given its lame duck status. Ms. Walston believed that there could be additional funding opportunities with the new Congress. Ms. Bettman indicated she would also attend the meeting with the representatives of Smith Dawson. Ms. Walston reported that the United Front visit to Washington, DC, would occur on February 26, 2007. 5. Discussion of Process of Bill Review Ms. Walston called attention to an outline of the bill review process distributed to committee members and reviewed the process. 1. Five-day turnaround for staff review 2. Bills reviewed in chronological order, not by subject area 3. Priority 1, 2, 3 review order 4. Create a “Watch List?” 5. Consent Calendar approach 6. Feedback to staff on level/type of review 7. Reports available in PDF format Ms. Walston said she would share the information with staff at the upcoming legislative coordinator training. The committee briefly discussed the prioritization process and Ms. Bettman noted that during the last legislative session, she frequently requested a Priority 1 status be assigned to a bill in order to be able to discuss the bill with staff, but that did not seem an efficient approach. Ms. Taylor said that she frequently felt the committee needed more information about bills and the reasons behind the priorities recommended by staff, and suggested that in its analysis of bills, staff discuss briefly why a bill was recommended as a Priority 1. Ms. Walston agreed. Ms. Bettman determined from Ms. Walston that generally, staff would be present at committee meetings only for bills assigned a Priority 1 status and for those bills for which the committee indicated a desire for additional information. The committee had no objection. Ms. Walston suggested that staff send the staff analysis in PDF form to the committee via e-mail. Ms. Bettman endorsed the suggestion and further recommended that the staff analysis include links to the text of the bills being analyzed to facilitate the review process and reduce the need for staff to be present at meetings. Ms. Walston indicated she would provide those links in the PDF document provided to the CCIGR. The committee accepted Ms. Walston’s recommendation that staff establish a bill “watch list.” MINUTES—Council Committee on Intergovernmental Relations November 21, 2006 Page 3