Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cash Fund Transfers topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
JBC approves sweeping transfers of cash fund interest, with carve-out for housing fund
Summary
The Joint Budget Committee agreed to transfer interest earnings from a set of cash funds that originate as general fund into the general fund, closing a budget gap; the committee made the transfers ongoing except for a one‑year sweep of the Housing Development Grant Fund for 2024‑25.
The Joint Budget Committee voted to transfer interest earnings from selected cash funds that originate as general fund into the state general fund, and to introduce a bill to carry out the transfers.
Committee staff briefed members that the package was intended to match a previously approved general fund balancing assumption and would make roughly $103 million available over two years if fully implemented. Craig Harper, GBC staff, told the committee: “The general fund overview ... assumes that this bill will make a total of $103,000,000 available over the next 2 years between the current year and next year.” Harper said previously approved transfers were estimated at about $99,800,000 over the two‑year period, with approximately $58,400,000 in the current year and $41,500,000 in 2025–26, and that additional candidate funds would lift totals closer to the $103 million target.
Committee members debated four smaller funds that had been excluded from the draft because of legal, statutory or technical issues, and discussed an additional roughly $7 million in interest identified in funds that originate as general fund. Harper flagged that much of the untapped interest was tied to housing programs in the Department of Local Affairs and said the Housing Development Grant Fund was the largest single piece driving that remainder; committee members expressed concern about taking ongoing interest from a core housing program.
After discussion the committee voted 6–0 to approve transfers listed in Table 3, with one adjustment: the committee accepted a one‑year sweep of the Housing Development Grant Fund for fiscal year 2024–25 and left the option of restoring or revisiting it in future years, while making the remaining Table 3 transfers ongoing. The committee then approved introduction of bill LLS 25,934, titled “Transfer cash fund investment earnings to general fund,” as amended by committee discussion. Both motions were recorded as 6–0.
Committee members also discussed related unclaimed property trust fund bills and adult dental proposals that affect general fund balancing but did not take final action on those items during the session.
