MINUTES OF THE
ADMINISTRATIVE RULES REVIEW COMMITTEE
October 26, 1998 - 9:00 a.m. - Room 305 State Capitol
Members Present:
Sen. Howard A. Stephenson, Cochair
Sen. David L. Buhler
Sen. Mike Dmitrich
Sen. Craig A. Peterson
Rep. John B. Arrington
Rep. James R. Gowans
Rep. David Ure
Members Excused:
Rep. Martin R. Stephens
, Cochair
Members Absent:
Sen. Robert C. Steiner
Rep. John E. Swallow
Staff Present:
Mr. Arthur L. Hunsaker,
Research Analyst
Ms. Esther D. Chelsea-McCarty,
Associate General Counsel
Ms. Barbara A. Teuscher,
Legislative Secretary
Note: A list of others present and copies of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.
1. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes of Meeting Held September 29, 1998
- Chair Stephenson called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m.
MOTION: Sen. Dmitrich moved to approve the minutes of September 29, 1998. The motion passed unanimously.
2. Office of Education - Mr. Doug Bates, Office of Education - Chair Stephenson introduced this agenda item. Mr. Bates indicated that the department is faced with conflicting
directives from the Legislature, which has adopted special funding to reduce class sizes, yet
allows children to transfer from other districts if there is room.
Mr. Bates discussed two policy decisions that need to be made: 1) do we really believe as a
state in small classes and if we do, what is that class size we should be striving for? and 2) do we
believe in closing schools that are being utilized under capacity is more important than
maintaining a school within walking distance? Mr. Bates stated if there is not another school
within the mileage distances then the school does not need to close.
Sen. Peterson said as the Legislature has funded class size reduction over the years, two
factors have emerged: 1) class size reduction goals in the strategic plan and 2) the pragmatic
reality of how much money has been put into it and how much can be achieved in class size
reduction. He suggested setting guidelines in close cooperation with the State Office of
Education and added that if the problem is capacity, the Legislature needs to redefine the capacity
and the resolve the conflict in the statute.
Chair Stephenson noted that the problem the committee needs to focus on is whether this
rule should be sunsetted or not. He said in his opinion this rule has no basis in the statute for
setting the class sizes at such low levels. By setting class sizes so low, the state is saying that no
school in the state has to accept transfer students and that no school in the state is in violation of
the 70% rule.
Mr. Bates referred to his handouts and explained the capacity information reported. He said more current figures will be available soon.
Sen. Peterson said the rule serves little purpose at this point in time because the statutes
being used to justify the rule are not consistent with what the Legislature wanted when it passed
them.
MOTION: Sen. Peterson moved to sunset the rule and to write a letter requesting the Education Committee prioritize the issue for statutory change in the 1999 General Session. The
motion passed unanimously with Sen. Dmitrich absent for the vote.
Chair Stephenson mentioned that two years ago a law was passed that established a process by which schools could adopt a policy on uniforms. He asked Mr. Bates if a school district has
the authority to prevent a school from requiring mandatory uniforms? Mr. Bates said not the
way the statute is written presently.
Mr. Roger Holfeltz, Private Citizen, expressed concern with requiring school uniforms.
Chair Stephenson referred to the computers for school's program passed in the 1999
General Session. Under the program, school computers would be generated through prison
programs, donated by businesses, and by other sources. They would be distributed to the schools
based on their effort to get computers by other means. His concern is that the computers are
being distributed on a basis other than effort. Ms. Lear distributed a handout and said there is a
match requirement for the appropriations that individual districts will get. Sen. Stephenson
highlighted the handout and discussed some of the issues. His concern is that the law as written
appears to be ignoring those districts that are making the greatest effort when it comes to
distributing the computers. Ms. Lear said she will have Ms. Vicky Dahn, coordinator of the
program, call Sen. Stephenson to address his concerns.
3. Update: R33-3-217 Multiple Award Contracts for Human Service Provider Services -
Chair Stephenson introduced this agenda item. Mr. Doug West, Department of Human Services, introduced Mr. Kenneth E. Nye, Chair, Procurement Policy Board, Mr. Steve Richins,
Department of Human Services, and Mr. Steven Schwendiman, Legal Counsel. Mr.
Schwendiman referred to his handout and indicated that Rule R33_3217 is correct and does not conflict with the statute. He said the policy issue is what is the correct price? He said the
question to him was could they determine that cost should be a consistent cost or the same cost
for everyone, in essence reducing the importance of the cost in value by the statute.
He came to the conclusion, based on the prior statute, that the department could do that
through the appropriate processes if it is in the best interest of the state. If the agency wants it to
be consistent across the board, he believes they legally can do that. Mr. Nye commented that it
basically comes down to whether or not it is permissible to have this type of arrangement set up
and whether it is good policy.
Mr. West mentioned that this is a very limited market. He talked about a service dealing
with residential care for children that are in state custody and explained the costs for the service.
Chair Stephenson said he was concerned with the lack of information on which counseling
strategies are effective and which are not.
MOTION: Rep. Ure moved to refer this issue to Health and Human Services Interim Committee and the related appropriations subcommittee. The policy and fiscal questions raised
by the rule merited attention beyond the Administrative Rules Review Committee's scope. The
motion passed unanimously with Sen. Peterson absent for the vote.
4. R595-1-9 Issuance of Private Reprimand and Dismissal of Complaint With Admonition - Rep. Ure introduced this agenda item. Mr. Fran Wikstrom, Chair, and Mr. Steven Stewart, Executive Director, Judicial Conduct Commission, addressed the committee. Mr.
Stewart presented background information on the rule and why the change was made. He said
the proposed amendment allows the commission the discretion to keep informal resolutions
confidential if the commission finds it is not in the interest of justice to notify the complainant.
He then explained the process used by the commission when resolving complaints.
Mr. Wikstrom mentioned the commission feels that accountability to the public is critical
and as a general rule the approach is to always advise the complainant of the resolution. Rep.
Ure indicated that a constitutional change is what is needed and if that change is made he would
feel much better with this rule in place. If it is not changed then he would be concerned.
Mr. Roger Holfeltz, Private Citizen, commented on the rule.
5. Committee Business - The next two meetings will be held Monday, November 9 and Monday, November 23.
6. Adjourn - MOTION: Rep. Gowans moved to adjourn the meeting at 11:40 a.m. The motion passed unanimously with Sen. Peterson absent for the vote.
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