NH SILC
Governance Committee Meeting Minutes
December 3, 2025

Present Members: 
Deb Ritcey, GSIL, Committee Chair (voting member)
Krystal Chase, Brain Injury Association, (voting member)
Michelle McConaghy, NDHH, (voting member)

Ad Hoc attendees: 
Andrew Harmon, Council Community Member, (non-voting member)
Randy Pierce, Council Chairperson, (non-voting member)

Motion to approve the November 5, 2025 Governance meeting minutes made by Krystal Chase, second by Michelle McConaghy; motion passed unanimously.

Bylaw Discussion
Based on the Executive Committee recommendations and governance committee suggestions, Deb Ritcey presented proposed Bylaw changes to include the following changes:

Definition:
Updated the Designate State Entity definition to read as follows: Designated State Entity (DSE) shall mean the New Hampshire Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation as identified within the Code of Federal Register: 29 U.S.C. § 796d(b); 34 C.F.R. § 364.21(b).

Article III, Section 3 Composition: added in subsections “e” and “f” as follows: 
e.	Non-voting members shall not count towards the number of members as identified in Article I, Section 1, Number of Members.
f.	Non-voting members shall not count towards the Quorum as identified in Article III, Section 10, Quorum.
Randy Pierce suggested this committee consider adding in a clause regarding governor appointments that were not known by the SILC, due to the new online appointment process. This would potentially allow the SILC to hold the governor appointment until the SILC is able to complete its due diligence on the new appointed member. Krystal Chase suggested that we do a little research to see what the process is at the appointment office to see if they would reach out to the SILC prior to any online requests going to the governor and council. Randy Pierce stated he would reach out to the appointment office for clarification. Deb Ritcey also suggested that Article III Section 2, Appointment, may address Randy Pierce’s concern. This will be addressed at the January meeting based on the findings from the appointment office.
Deb Ritcey stated she would provide language around the executive committee’s ability to make decisions regarding an allowance for placing a hold on any governor appointed members who have not gone through the SILC process as outlined in the Bylaws.
Motion to present the updated Bylaw changes to the full council was made by Krystal Chase, second by Michelle McConaghy; motion passed unanimously.
SPIL discussion
Prior to the meeting, Deb Ritcey distributed a draft policy for SPIL development. Deb Ritcey outlined the SPIL timeline as follows:
1.	Current SPIL ends on September 30, 2027, with the PPR due on or around January 31, 2028.
2.	The new SPIL will be due to ACL, as signed by the SILC Chairperson and the CEO of the CIL generally by June 30, 2027.
3.	The SPIL, once approved by ACL, will be effective October 1, 2027 and remains in place for three years.
There was some discussion on the end date of SPIL being June 30th. Confirmation review on the current SPIL indicates it is effective Federal FYs 25, 26, and 27, which would end on 9/30/27.

Two main items on the proposed policy was agreed upon by the committee: 1, this policy would represent a ten month planning process, and 2, there would be two open comment periods for granite staters to participate in, one happening prior to the completing of the SPIL to ensure we are meeting the needs of those we support and then one after the completion of the SPIL to ensure we captured what people are looking for. Both of these meetings would offer either in-person or remote.

Deb will make changes to the original document and circulate it before the next meeting.

Motion to adjourn made by Deb Ritcey, second by Krystal Chase; motion passed unanimously.

Next meeting date: January 7, 2026 at 8:00am