S_SA_2017A 12/21/2017 09:05:23 AM Committee Summary

09:06 AM -- SMART Act Presentation, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs



Representative Foote called the meeting to order. A meeting agenda, Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Performance Plan for FY 2017-18, and Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Annual Performance Evaluation (Attachments A, B, and C) were distributed to the committee. Major General Michael Loh, Adjutant General, introduced himself to the committee. He provided an overview of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and provided a handout to the committee (Attachment D). He reviewed the organizational structure of the department. Major General Loh discussed the Division of the Colorado National Guard, including the training and deployment of Colorado National Guard members. He reviewed information about the High Altitude Mountain Training Initiative.



17JointState1221AttachA.pdf 17JointState1221AttachB.pdf



17JointState1221AttachC.pdf 17JointState1221AttachD.pdf

















09:16 AM



Major General Loh answered questions about the department's interactions with the Department of Homeland Security. He referenced the new space control squadron at Peterson Air Force Base. He discussed how the Colorado National Guard assisted with wildfires and floods in Colorado, as well as hurricane relief in other states and territories. He responded to questions about the involvement of the Colorado National Guard with wildfires in other states.





09:28 AM



Major General Loh discussed the Division of Veteran Affairs. He discussed the veterans service officers, grants provided by the division, and the cemeteries operated by the division. He discussed the Division of Civil Air Patrol, including its flood and fire watch and efforts to work with youth on STEM education and the CyberPatriot Competition.





09:32 AM



Mickey Hunt, Deputy Executive Director, answered questions about assisting veterans with health services. He discussed the challenges veterans in rural areas have accessing behavioral health services. He discussed the role of veterans service officers in assisting veterans in accessing services.





09:35 AM



Major General Loh reviewed the department's FY 2018-19 budget requests outlined on page 8 of the handout. He discussed the budget request for staffing for the Grand Junction Veterans One Stop Office to manage a facility serving veterans and their families on the Western Slope. He reviewed the department safety program budget request that will provide training, materials, and protective equipment for field maintenance technicians to ensure safety.





09:40 AM



In response to a questions, Mr. Hunt and Major General Loh discussed the Grand Junction Veterans One Stop Office. Mr. Hunt discussed how the efforts of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs to provide identification cards to veterans help veterans access federal funds and health care services.





09:57 AM



Major General Loh discussed the department's strategic performance initiatives outlined on page 9 of the handout. He discussed suicide and mental health assistance for military personnel, and increasing the number of soldiers and airmen who access mental health services. He discussed efforts to decrease the number of high risk mental health cases occurring with department personnel. He discussed improving the veteran's customer service experience over a longer time span and plans to conduct a new survey about interactions with county veterans service officers.















10:03 AM



Major General Loh reviewed the 11 LEAN projects undertaken by the department that are outlined on page 10 of the handout. He stated the LEAN projects have resulted in $111,000 in savings. He reviewed the in-progress and planned LEAN projects, which include human resources on-boarding, accounting operations, training management, military support operations, and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs call-in system.





10:08 AM



No witnesses testified on the presentation. The committee took a brief recess.





10:30 AM -- SMART Act Presentation, Department of State



Representative Foote called the meeting back to order. The committee was provided the Department of State FY 2017-18 Performance Plan, Department of State Annual Performance Report for FY 2016-17, and 2018 Departmental Regulatory Agenda (Attachments E, F, and G). Secretary Wayne Williams introduced himself to the committee. He reviewed a handout he provided to the committee (Attachment H), which included information about the number of registered voters, business entities, registered charities, bingo-raffle licenses, and commissioned notaries public in Colorado. He discussed information about the 2017 election, including the risk-limiting audit that was conducted.



17JointState1221AttachE.pdf 17JointState1221AttachF.pdf



17JointState1221AttachG.pdf 17JointState1221AttachH.pdf



10:37 AM



Secretary Williams reviewed information regarding the Business and Licensing Division, including efforts to provide online training for notaries public. He reviewed information about the department's IT Division, and the entities the department partners with during elections. Secretary Williams discussed the rules adopted regarding Proposition 107, concerning presidential primaries, and Proposition 108, concerning unaffiliated voter participation in primary elections. He stated that there will be a public information campaign about the open primary process required under Proposition 108. Secretary Williams answered questions about the public information campaign. He referenced Senate Bill 17-209, and the process for checking signatures on candidate petitions. In response to a question, Secretary Williams outlined the process for reviewing signatures on ballots. He discussed the tie votes that occurred during the 2017 election.





10:55 AM



In response to questions, Secretary Williams discussed the process for a candidate petitioning on to the ballot. He further discussed changes to the law regarding the petition process, and the impact of overseas and military voters on the election calendar.













11:11 AM



Secretary Williams outlined the department's 2018 legislative agenda, which includes legislation clarifying election and campaign finance laws, prohibiting vote trading, and consolidating judicial retention language. He outlined the department's budget requests for FY 2018-19 listed on page 2 of the handout.





11:17 AM



Secretary Williams answered questions about the department's budget request regarding IT staff. Gary Zimmerman, Chief of Staff, discussed the department's IT and the interactions the department has with the Office of Information Technology. Mr. Zimmerman and Secretary Williams discussed the interactions the department has with the Joint Technology Committee. Secretary Williams answered a question about the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, and in doing so explained what information in a voter's record is public and private. Secretary Williams answered questions about the Statewide Voter Registration System (SCORE) system and outages that occurred with the SCORE system on Election Day in November 2017.





11:40 AM



No witnesses testified on the presentation. The committee adjourned.