Section 2.15. Powers and duties of standing committees.

  1.  The powers and duties of standing committees shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

  a.  Introducing legislative bills and resolutions.

  b.  Conducting investigations with the approval of either or both houses during the session, or the legislative council during the interim, with authority to call witnesses, administer oaths, issue subpoenas, and cite for contempt.

  c.  Requiring reports and information from state agencies as well as the full cooperation of their personnel.

  d.  Selecting nonlegislative members when conducting studies as provided in section 2.14.

  e.  Undertaking in-depth studies of governmental matters within their assigned jurisdiction, not only for the purpose of evaluating proposed legislation, but also for studying existing laws and governmental operations and functions to determine their usefulness and effectiveness, as provided in section 2.14.

  f.  Reviewing the operations of state agencies and departments.

  g.  Giving thorough consideration to, establishing priorities for, and making recommendations on all bills assigned to committees.

  h.  Preparing reports to be made available to members of the general assembly containing the committee’s findings, recommendations, and proposed legislation.

  2.  A standing committee may call upon any department, agency or office of the state, or any political subdivision of the state, for information and assistance as needed in the performance of its duties and the information and assistance shall be furnished to the extent that they are within the resources and authority of the department, agency, office or political subdivision. This subsection does not require the production or opening of any records which are required by law to be kept private or confidential.

[C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §2.15]

84 Acts, ch 1171, §1

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85 Acts, ch 67, §1

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2008 Acts, ch 1032, §111