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“DRAFT ONLY - APPROVAL PENDING”
MINUTES
Holiday Inn May 3, 2002
Sheridan, Wyoming
PRESENT: Representative Randall Luthi, Chairman
Senator Hank Coe, Vice Chairman
Senator April Brimmer Kunz
Senator Mike Massie
Senator Carroll Miller
Representative Ross Diercks
Representative Alan Jones
Representative Tom Lockhart
Representative Jane Warren
Others:
Legislative Service Office: Barbara J. Rogers, Program Evaluation Manager; Kimberley Taylor-Beer; Program Evaluator, Paula Gordinier, Program Evaluator; Emily Quarterman, Associate Program Evaluator
Sleeter Dover, Director, Department of Transportation (WYDOT); Shelly Reams, Aeronautics Division Administrator, WYDOT; Brad Mead, Chairman, Kent Nelson and Ray Harrison, Wyoming Aeronautics Commission; John Keck, Director, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources; Tony Adams, State Archivist, Wyoming State Archives; Frank Galeotos, Director, Department of Administration and Information (A&I); Darald Dykeman, Human Resources Administrator, A&I; Representative Doug Osborn; Representative Jack Landon; Representative Jerry Iekel
Absent: Senator Grant Larson
Senator Bill Vasey
The following is a summary of Committee proceedings arranged by topic. Other materials referred to in these minutes, which are not attached as exhibits, are on file in the Legislative Service Office.
Chairman Luthi called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m.
Chairman Luthi resolved the meeting into Executive Session for consideration of the draft report on the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission and for Committee questions and discussion. After staff presentations, the Committee discussed the report with members of the Wyoming Aeronautics Commission and WYDOT officials.
The Chairman declared the meeting open and Senator Kunz moved to release the report. Senator Coe seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Senator Massie moved that the Management Audit Committee send a letter to the Aeronautics Commission, the Wyoming Airport Operators Association (WAOA), and WYDOT asking them to come to a consensus on state-level organization for aeronautics. The letter should request a progress report and recommendations for draft legislation. The motion was seconded. Senator Kunz moved to amend the motion to add a request that the Management Audit Committee be notified of the Commission's next meeting with the WAOA. The amended motion carried.
Senator Kunz moved to approve the minutes of the January 19, 2002 meeting. Senator Coe seconded and the motion carried.
Follow-up on the State Archives Report
The Chairman resolved the Committee into Executive Session for consideration of a staff follow-up report on Wyoming State Archives. John Keck, Director, Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, and Tony Adams, State Archivist, Wyoming State Archives, discussed agency actions since the May 2000 report was released.
Follow-up on the Turnover and Retention in Four Occupations Report
The Chairman continued the Executive Session for consideration of a staff follow-up report on Turnover and Retention in Four Occupations. Frank Galeotos, Administration and Information Director, and Darald Dykeman, Human Resources Administrator, discussed agency actions since the May 2000 report was released.
Chairman Luthi declared the meeting open. Senator Kunz moved to release the follow-up reports on Archives and Turnover and Retention in Four Occupations. Senator Coe seconded the motion and it carried.
Ms. Rogers reported that the study is progressing and she anticipates an early Fall completion date for the project. She noted that research continues to focus on the three areas of Committee interest identified in the scoping paper, and that the scope does not include a review of outside contracting for attorney services in certain large and complex litigation matters. Committee members indicated interest in the appropriateness of Attorney General attorneys handling board or commission business in situations where the boards or commissions are intermingled with agencies. The examples given were the Board of Medicine and the Mental Health Professions Licensing Board. Ms. Rogers replied that the team is looking overall at a systems level use of attorneys, and with boards and commissions, at the issue of dual function of attorneys in advisory and defense roles.
Ms. Rogers reviewed the Committee’s workplan and the potential study topics identified at the January meeting, as well as additional topics requested by the Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Joint Interim Committee, Representative Owen Peterson, and Senator Massie. Committee members discussed these seven topics and further defined their interests.
Senator Kunz suggested that the timing for a Medicaid study as outlined in the scoping paper is premature, in light of changes the program is undergoing. She moved to table a study of Medicaid sub-programs, Representative Jones seconded, and the motion carried.
Senator Kunz moved the Committee send a letter to Management Council transmitting to them the scoping paper on the Industrial Siting Act and coalbed methane development impacts. The letter should request that Council consider assigning issues raised in the paper to the Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committeefor study during the 2003 interim. The motion was seconded by Senator Coe, and it carried.
Chairman Luthi called for discussion on the Worker’s Compensation topic. He asked what issues are causing the most hearings: are hearings often about whether injuries are work-related or related to pre-existing conditions, and are large numbers of claims coming from individuals acting as independent contractors? Senator Kunz commented that the questions in the scoping paper provide a good starting point for research.
Chairman Luthi moved on to the "AccessYes" topic for discussion. Senator Massie requested that landowners’ desire to attach conditions to easements funded by "AccessYes" payments be added to the scope of the study.
Senator Kunz moved to prioritize study topics: first, completion of the Attorney General's Office study currently underway; second, the Game and Fish "AccessYes" program; and third, Worker's Compensation claims settlement process. Senator Massie seconded the motion and it carried.
Senator Kunz moved to direct completion of a scoping paper on the state Forestry Division program and the emergency fire suppression account as requested by the Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Joint Interim Committee, pending completion of a related Joint Appropriations Committee study. Senator Coe seconded the motion and it carried.
Senator Kunz moved to send a letter to Representative Peterson thanking him for suggestion of the Pari-Mutuel Commission as a study topic. The letter should advise that given the political sensitivity of the negotiations in progress with Native American Tribes in Wyoming, the Committee prefers to delay a study of this matter. The motion was seconded and it carried, with Representative Lockhart voting no.
Senator Massie moved that staff prepare a scoping paper on the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources’ loan policies for historic collections. The motion was seconded and discussion followed, with Representative Lockhart questioning Mr. Keck as to why the Department wants an outside study of this matter. Senator Kunz stated that because artifact loan policy questions often involve bequests, trusts, and contracts, these are legal matters that should be resolved by the Attorney General’s Office. The motion carried, with Senator Coe, Senator Kunz, and Representative Lockhart voting no.
Next Meeting
The Committee agreed to meet in late September or early October.
Chairman Luthi adjourned the meeting at 3:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,