HOUSE BILL NO. 81 "An Act relating to the transfer of a title on the death of the owner; and providing for an effective date." 8:37:29 AM Co-Chair Foster noted that no amendments had been received for the bill. The committee would review the one fiscal note from the Department of Administration. JEFFREY SCHMITZ, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES (DMV), DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION (via teleconference), stated that he had just been informed that the fiscal note submitted by the DMV had been changed by the committee. He believed the note was now indeterminate or zero. He could not speak to the reasons why the committee had changed the note. Co-Chair Foster replied that he did not believe the fiscal note had been changed by the committee. He looked at fiscal note with the OMB component number 2348 showing total operating expenditures of $75,000 designated general funds (DGF). He thought it was likely the original fiscal note. 8:39:16 AM AT EASE 8:39:50 AM RECONVENED Co-Chair Foster noted that Mr. Schmitz may be looking at an earlier version of the fiscal note generated in the House Transportation Committee, which was no longer relevant. He clarified that the committee was addressing OMB component number 2348. Mr. Schmitz apologized for the confusion. He detailed that the DMV fiscal note included $75,000 for programming needed to change DMV's information system in accordance with the bill. He elaborated that the cost had been provided by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) [under the Department of Administration]. He explained that there were no other DMV costs. Co-Chair Foster asked the bill sponsor to come to the table to ensure the fiscal note was accurate. RYAN MCKEE, STAFF, REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE RAUSCHER, confirmed the fiscal note was correct. He explained that the House Transportation Committee had changed the fiscal note to indeterminate, but it had reverted back to the prior fiscal note with cost of $75,000 when it reached the House Finance Committee. Co-Chair Johnson thought that the title transfer would already take place when someone passed away. She wondered why the funds were needed if the step was not additional. Mr. Schmitz responded that it was not something that happened automatically when an individual died. He explained that the DMV or individuals involved did not automatically know who [a vehicle title] should be transferred to. He expounded that sometimes a vehicle could be subject to probate. He explained there were a variety of other features that could direct a path of ultimate ownership in different directions. He was certain it was the reason for the bill, in order to clarify what would happen when an owner died. The programming involved would be to change all of the fields needed to display the intent of the owners upon death clearly on the title. 8:44:33 AM Co-Chair Johnson observed that it would take 600 programming hours [based on the information in the fiscal note]. She estimated that was about 15 weeks. Mr. Schmitz responded affirmatively. He stated it was the information provided by OIT. He explained it was a complicated item, particularly pertaining to ownership fields. He elaborated that it had to be tested and regression tested. He stated that it could take an OIT team awhile to work on it and he did not know the exact process or the number of programmers involved. Co-Chair Johnson thought it seemed to be a lot of programming to do a title transfer. Co-Chair Foster noted Leslie Isaacs, Administrative Service Director, Department of Administration, was in the room for questions as well. REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE RAUSCHER, SPONSOR, stated it was hard for him to understand why it would take the specified length of time to make the change. He had seen other bills with similar changes that had a zero fiscal note. 8:46:55 AM Co-Chair Edgmon asked if the committee was disputing the fiscal note. Co-Chair Foster clarified they were asking questions. Co-Chair Edgmon asked if they were information gathering on the fiscal note. He was uncertain what the committee was doing. Co-Chair Foster remarked that it sounded like there were some questions on the note. He stated that the department felt it needed the money for the work. He reasoned that if the funding was not provided the department may have to request a supplemental appropriation later on. He was comfortable going forward with the fiscal note. Co-Chair Edgmon wanted to see the bill move and thought they should move it forward. He surmised that the fiscal note was likely not what the bill sponsor wanted to see, but in the scheme of things the cost was fairly nominal. He believed they should go for the greater good and move the bill. Co-Chair Johnson also wanted to see the bill move. She did not want to get bogged down on the $75,000 fiscal note. She thought she would need to spend some time looking into how the numbers were determined on fiscal notes coming to the committee. Representative Hannan stated that she did not know anything about computer programming. She deferred to the OIT expertise. She was very supportive of the bill. She shared that she had just gone through a complicated probate process with her sister. She understood that things that should be simple and straight forward were sometimes not. She remarked that they were talking about vehicle and boat titles, which could add a layer of complexity. She reminded the committee that DMV was one of the few places in the state budget that generated millions of dollars to the general fund that lapsed annually. She stated her understanding that the $75,000 in the fiscal note was the maximum cost and the cost may not reach that amount. She supported moving the bill. Co-Chair Foster added that the funds were a one-time amount. 8:50:43 AM Co-Chair Johnson MOVED to REPORT HB 81 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying fiscal note. There being NO OBJECTION, it was so ordered. HB 81 was REPORTED out of committee with ten "do pass" recommendations and one "no recommendation" recommendation and with one new fiscal impact note from the Department of Administration. 8:51:29 AM AT EASE 8:52:37 AM RECONVENED