Appropriations panel leaves out proposed public‑relations position for Medical Board

The Appropriations & Finance subcommittee voted to adopt the Legislative Finance Committee recommendation for the Board of Medical Examiners’ budget, declining the executive branch’s proposal to add one public information officer funded by licensing fees.

The dispute between the two budget proposals centered on the $86,500 recurring salary and one full‑time equivalent position that the Department of Finance and Administration included in the executive recommendation but the LFC did not. “This is a non general fund revenue agency. All of the revenues for this agency come from licensing fees,” said a presenter for the agency during the hearing, noting the $86,500 difference and the single FTE.

The director of the board said the PIO position was a recommendation from the governor’s office; she told the committee she is new to the role and that recent retirements in top positions contributed to the request. Representative Randall Pettigrew asked whether the position was a new idea and what developments prompted it. The director said the governor’s office recommended the position after “several cases that happened at the medical board that were taking a lot of length and were getting some press.”

Committee members raised no additional substantive budget changes for the agency. The subcommittee took up the LFC recommendation and, after a second, the motion passed with no recorded roll‑call tally in the hearing record.

Because the proposal affecting the Board of Medical Examiners would be funded from non‑general fund licensing revenues, the committee did not approve the executive’s requested FTE and associated funding in this session.

The presenters offered to answer follow‑up questions and the director stood by for further inquiries from legislators.