JOINT SENATE AND HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEES January 19, 1994 1:00 p.m. SENATE MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Robin Taylor, Chairman Senator Dave Donley Senator Suzanne Little SENATE MEMBERS ABSENT Senator Rick Halford, Vice-Chairman Senator George Jacko HOUSE MEMBERS PRESENT Representative Brian Porter, Chairman Representative Pete Kott Representative Joe Green Representative Jim Nordlund HOUSE MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Jeannette James, Vice-Chairman Representative Gail Phillips (arrived later) Representative Cliff Davidson OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT Representative David Finkelstein COMMITTEE CALENDAR RECONFIRMATION HEARING: Shirley McCoy to the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics. ACTION NARRATIVE SENATE TAPE 94-2, SIDE A Number 000 CO-CHAIRMAN ROBIN TAYLOR called the Joint Senate/House Judiciary Committee to order at 1:25 p.m., invited SHIRLEY MCCOY to the table, and turned the meeting over to CO- CHAIRMAN PORTER to begin the questioning. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER welcomed MS. MCCOY back to the committee and directed her attention to a copy of the minutes from her confirmation hearing of February 25, 1993. He asked her if there were any answers to any questions from last year that would be different from her responses last year. MS. MCCOY said there would be no changes. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER asked her if there had been any significant event which had occurred in her life that might affect her ability to be on the committee. MS. MCCOY confirmed there had been none. REPRESENTATIVE PORTER had no further questions. SENATOR TAYLOR called on SENATOR LITTLE who thanked MS. MCCOY for her service on the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics and expressed her appreciation for the work of the committee. SENATOR LITTLE questioned why MS. MCCOY was interested in serving again. MS. MCCOY explained the committee was in the midst of finalizing matters started last year, and she thought it would be difficult to have a new person join the committee at this time. She said she felt good about the committee and the part in which she played. MS. MCCOY indicated the committee was not as time-consuming as she had thought it might be, and she had good support from both her home and office. She also wanted to follow through on some cases that have been started. SENATOR LITTLE asked MS. MCCOY if she saw any areas of the ethics law that needed to be changed or clarified. MS. MCCOY replied that numerous areas had been identified to be addressed. SENATOR LITTLE said she would look forward to their "tune- up." MS. MCCOY assured her the committee was working in that direction. SENATOR LITTLE asked MS. MCCOY about the role of the committee regarding false complaints that might be made. MS. MCCOY explained their first move would be to determine whether or not it was a false complaint and then follow the guidelines given to the ethics committee to verify their findings. Number 053 SENATOR LITTLE concluded by expressing her appreciation for MS. MCCOY'S participation in the committee. SENATOR TAYLOR called on REPRESENTATIVE NORDLUND who also thanked MS. MCCOY for agreeing to serve another term on the Select Committee on Ethics because he thought it was important to preserve the continuity of the committee. He asked what kinds of modifications to the ethics law she would recommend. MS. MCCOY declined to address any specific area of the law at this time. She felt it was important to speak within the body of the ethics committee. REPRESENTATIVE NORDLUND asked if the ethics committee was scheduled to meet on the process and procedure as opposed to complaints. MS. MCCOY said they were. SENATOR LITTLE returned to ask MS. MCCOY if there should be a time limit established between the time a complaint is filed and the time the complaint is taken up by the committee. MS. MCCOY thought no one should be left hanging out and not know how long before their case would be completed. CO-CHAIRMAN PORTER moved that the joint committee pass the name of SHIRLEY MCCOY on to the respective bodies for a confirmation vote. There were no objections. CO-CHAIRMAN TAYLOR thanked MS. MCCOY for her service and the efforts of the ethics committee. There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. by CO- CHAIRMAN TAYLOR.