Deactivates certain committees, councils, panels, and task forces of advisory or temporary nature if entity does not meet or have quorum at least once every year.
Summary
S3196 would create a statewide mechanism to automatically deactivate certain advisory or temporary bodies created by statute or joint resolution if they do not meet, or cannot conduct business for lack of a quorum, at least once every 365 days. The bill applies to committees, councils, panels, task forces, and similar entities whose duties are advisory or temporary in nature. If such a body is deemed inactive, the appointments of all current members would terminate.
The bill also assigns the Secretary of State the responsibility to review meeting records annually and determine which bodies have become inactive under this standard. In addition, any deactivated body would lose the ability to use the services of employees from State, county, or municipal departments, boards, bureaus, commissions, or agencies. The act would take effect immediately.
Impact
The bill would add a new administrative oversight and sunset-like rule to Title 52 of the Revised Statutes for certain legislatively created advisory or temporary entities. It would not broadly eliminate all boards or commissions, but it would require annual monitoring of meeting activity and quorum status, and it would automatically end the service of members on bodies that fail to remain active. State, county, and municipal agencies could no longer provide staff support to bodies deemed inactive under the bill.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the overall sentiment appears to be procedural and reform-oriented rather than partisan or ideological. The measure is framed as a government-efficiency and accountability bill aimed at preventing dormant advisory bodies from lingering indefinitely. No formal opposition or support is documented in the provided materials, so there is no recorded public controversy in the available context.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the automatic deactivation standard itself: bodies could be terminated not because of an affirmative legislative repeal, but because they fail to meet or lack a quorum within a year. That may raise concerns for sponsors or members of boards that are infrequently convened but still considered useful, especially where scheduling, staffing, or quorum problems are outside members’ control. Another possible issue is the breadth of the Secretary of State’s annual review authority and whether the bill could affect entities that are intended to operate intermittently rather than regularly.
Carry Over
Deactivates certain committees, councils, panels, and task forces of advisory or temporary nature if entity does not meet or have quorum at least once every year.
Carry Over
Deactivates certain committees, councils, panels, and task forces of advisory or temporary nature if entity does not meet or have quorum at least once every year.
Same As
Deactivates certain committees, councils, panels, and task forces of advisory or temporary nature if entity does not meet or have quorum at least once every year.