As Senators and staff prepare for the 2022 session to convene next Wednesday, January 5th, Speaker Mike Hilgers released his annual memo regarding certain procedural modifications and continuations for the 2022 session. A few items of highlight:

First, Senators will resume our regular afternoon committee schedules and will not have all-day committee hearings in 2022. Hilgers noted that he remains personally grateful for the work that senators and staff did to accommodate full-day schedules last year--it was critical to the functioning of the session.

In resuming normal committee hearing schedules, committees also will discontinue the temporary use of the "written submitted testimony" option. For next session, per our historical practice, for a person to have their name listed on the committee statement they will need to appear in person and provide oral testimony to a committee.

Second, the legislature is streamlining the method for submitting position letters for the public hearing record as an exhibit. The current process of submitting these comments through email has created confusion over the last couple of years, especially as the timing/recipient requirements have changed. There will now be an online database for submitting statements for the record; members of the public submitting comments will have the option to have his/her comments included as part of the public hearing record.

Senators access to the rotunda and lobbyists during the debate through the main entrance to the chamber will be reinstated.

Please view the full memo by clicking HERE