Senator Erich M. Fabricius submitted the following report on Sunday, February 24, 2002, on behalf of the Government Operations Committee, and pursuant to its February 20, 2002 recommendations, by general consent:

Attendance:

There were seven (7) Senators (Brown, Denton, Fabricius, Mangum, Tatum, White, Wright) present;

There were zero (0) Senators absent;

A quorum was present.

Background:

Senate Rule 2 requires that the Committee review the absences of Senators to determine if they were justified or not. The first such section F hearing occurs after 4 absences.

Dicussion:

Sen. Lester sent written petition to the committee. He noted that several absences were only brief tardies, and that he had a period of poor health at start of the year.

Recommendations:

The Committee determined that the first four absences of Sen. Lester were not excessive, and that they merit no punitive action.