Elaine Price — Argued that prior legislation has broadened candidate pools for hard-to-fill positions and that similar flexibility should apply here.
Elaine Price — Said that if the legislature has broadened candidate pools in other situations, it should consider doing so here as well; referenced 35 counties under 50,000 population.
Elaine Price — Supported giving counties an option if they are struggling to fill appointments.
Elaine Price — The transcript says 'Representative Berch,' which is likely a correction from the prior 'Birch' transcription.
Elaine Price — Recorded as voting yes in the roll call.
Lucas Cayler — Representative Lucas Cayler participated in a discussion about appointment authority, asking whether the central committee was better positioned than the governor to handle the appointment issue and then being directly addressed by Commissioner Reby on that same topic.
Lucas Cayler — Was recognized to speak in favor of the motion; the transcript renders his name as 'Kaler.'
Lucas Cayler — Said that in District 11 in Caldwell it is difficult to find people to run for seats and even to get people to vote.
Lucas Cayler — Supported making it easier for central committees to find a candidate by narrowing the requirement from three people.
Lucas Cayler — Recorded as voting yes in the roll call; name appears as 'Kaler' earlier and 'Cayler' here is corrected from context.
Commissioner Reby — Commissioner Reby was questioned about whether the central committee is more directly involved than the governor in the appointment process. He explained that if the governor does not act within the statutory window, the appointment responsibility shifts to the central committee, but maintained that the governor is the higher authority. He also noted that the governor interviews applicants and does not always select the top candidate, citing a county example involving a candidate related to central committee members. The exchange then concluded with the committee thanking him and ending questions.
Marco Erickson — Representative Harris is brought back to answer further questions, and the discussion continues on the same bill as the sponsor asks for a yes vote while the chair thanks the speaker and moves the committee into discussion on HB 892.
Marco Erickson — Called during roll call, but the vote response is not captured in this caption.
Jon Weber — Asked the sponsor whether there has ever been a situation where fewer than three names were presented to the governor.
Jon Weber — Referred to as 'the good gentleman' in the discussion.
Jon Weber — Explained that current law routes the process through the Central Committee and that any change to central committee appointment authority would require another bill.
Jon Weber — Restated that current law requires three names from the Central Committee to the governor and said appointing directly would require another bill; raised concern about the $50,000 threshold.
Jon Weber — Said the sponsor's intent was understandable but that the bill misses the mark because of the 50,000 threshold; stated he would not support the motion.
Jon Weber — Said he would not support the motion but remained open to further discussion on solving the issue.
Jon Weber — Referenced as having made a similar point about possible smaller changes.
Jon Weber — Recorded as voting no in the roll call.
Representative Harris / Kyle Harris — Representative Harris explained that although he was not personally aware of a specific case involving fewer than three nominees, he believed such situations had occurred and likely prompted the bill. He said the legislation was intended to help counties that struggle to find enough people and argued that it supports local control by allowing elected county central committees—being closest to the people in their counties—to choose nominees.
Richard Cheatum — Richard Cheatum discussed the bill’s nomination and replacement process, explaining that the governor must choose from the nomination list and illustrating it with a county vacancy example where local input and interviews influenced the final selection. He said he liked some parts of the bill’s process but ultimately opposed the motion because he believed the $50,000 population threshold was too high and left locals with too little choice.
Richard Cheatum — Recorded as voting no in the roll call.
Barbara Ehardt — The chair is speaking in the procedural transition to discussion.
Barbara Ehardt — Barbara Ehardt, as chair, briefly shared her thoughts on House Bill 892, indicating the bill could use more work and that she might support it while reserving the right to change her mind on the floor. She then moved the committee into a roll call vote and restated the motion to send House Bill 892 to the floor with a due pass recommendation.
Steve Berch — Steve Berch opposed the proposed change to the county nomination process, arguing that the 50,000-population threshold is meaningful, that larger counties should be able to find three nominees, and that the current Central Committee process already sends three names to the governor. He said the bill goes too far, could affect statewide law based on a limited situation, and should either leave the governor out of the process or preserve meaningful choices rather than allowing a single nominee. He also noted there was no emergency or demonstrated need for the change and ultimately voted no.
Joe Alfieri — Recorded as voting yes in the roll call.
Josh Wheeler — Recorded as voting no in the roll call.
Clint Hostetler — Representative Clint Hostetler was recorded as voting yes in the roll call.
Cornel Rasor — During the roll call, Cornel Rasor is called twice in the transcript with likely transcription errors in the name, and his votes are recorded: first as 'No' and then as 'Yes.'
Bruce Skaug — Called during roll call, but the vote response is not captured in this caption.
Kent Marmon — Likely the 'Wormon' at the end of the roll call; vote response is not captured.
Dale Hawkins — Representative Dale Hawkins argued in support of the bill by describing how county vacancies can be hard to fill, noting that in his county only one person was willing to be on the list and that another commissioner vacancy is coming. He said central committees are closest to the people and therefore best suited to make these replacement decisions, adding that his county is just under 10,000 people and may be undercounted. He continued that his county will struggle with the replacement process and emphasized that counties rely on vetting and voting rather than casual recruitment, ending with a joke that if people met in a bar, they probably would not choose him.
Dale Hawkins — Recorded as voting yes in the roll call.
Jennifer Reby — Jennifer Reby, a Payette County commissioner, testified in opposition to the legislation. She explained that her county has had multiple applicants for commissioner vacancies and argued that allowing the central committee to submit only one candidate would effectively let that committee make the appointment decision for the governor. She compared this to other county elected office vacancy processes, where multiple names are forwarded, and said a one-candidate process gives the central committee too much authority. After being thanked and asked a question about her county’s appointment history, she clarified that while the applicant pool has gotten smaller over time, each appointment still involved at least three candidates.
Elaine Price — Representative Elaine Price questioned the commissioner about the timing of the appointments and whether the applicant pool changed over time, including whether the pool became larger or smaller.
Elaine Price — Was recognized to speak next after the prior speaker concluded.
Elaine Price — Took the floor and began discussing prior bills addressing positions that were hard to fill.
Monica Church — Monica Church questioned the bill’s 50,000-population cutoff for nominee selection, arguing it would affect many counties by reducing their nominee options from three to one and asking whether the governor would still be able to reject the sole nominee.
Monica Church — Raised the question of what problem the bill is trying to solve and noted that under 5,000 population would be difficult.
Monica Church — Likely intended by the transcript as 'Church'; response recorded as 'Okay.'
Dale Hawkins — Moved to send House Bill 892 to the floor with a due pass recommendation.