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2004 Budget Session
SF 51 gave elected state officials the authority to hire in-house attorneys to review contracts in their respective offices. The new authority was extended to the Secretary of State, the Auditor, the Treasurer and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Until now, the Attorney General had sole responsibility for reviewing and approving contracts by state agencies.
The Legislative Management Council drafted and sponsored the bill after they were requested to do so by Auditor Max Maxfield, Treasurer Cynthia Lummis and Superintendent of Public Instruction Trent Blankenship.
As SF 51 was introduced, it would have allowed attorneys hired by the four elected state officials to both review and approve contracts. The Senate amended the bill to allow in-house attorneys in those offices to review contracts, but to reserve authority to give final approval of contracts to the Attorney General's office. The Senate amendment required the Attorney General to approve or disapprove any contract submitted to it within 30 days.
The House deleted the Senate amendment, taking the bill back to the form in which it was originally introduced. The Senate refused to accept the House version, and a conference committee adopted the Senate version of the bill. The House and Senate then accepted the conference committee's recommendation, including the Senate amendment to the bill.
Proponents of SF 51 argued that the four elected officials have had problems getting contracts approved by the Attorney General's office, and that they needed their own attorneys to conduct their business more efficiently and effectively.
Opponents believed that the Attorney General must maintain authority to review the work of the in-house attorneys and to give final approval of all contracts the state enters into, to protect the state's interests. After SF 51 was amended to maintain the Attorney General's final approval authority, most opposition to the bill subsided.
The Senate unanimously passed SF 51 in its final form, with final contract approval by the Attorney General required. Representative Ross Dierks (D-H2, Lusk) cast the only "No" vote against the final bill in the House.