The House Appropriations & Finance Committee (HAFC) scenario would add modest recurring personnel funding for several state agencies to help them implement new statutory duties and reduce vacancy shortfalls. The proposal includes $1,000,000 for the Economic Development Department, $500,000 for the Department of Cultural Affairs’ museums program, $500,000 for the Secretary of State, $458,000 for the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and $200,000 for the Public Regulation Commission (PRC).

Committee staff told members the Economic Development Department has taken on new responsibilities and special appropriations since the original hearings. “The proposal here is to do an additional $1,000,000 of recurring funding into personnel for economic development,” said Kelly (LFC analyst).

HAFC members asked whether the increases were for new positions or pay adjustments. Kelly said the Economic Development Department and PRC funds were intended to pay for new staff; cultural affairs funding was primarily to reduce vacancy rates. “For economic development, it would be new staff. For PRC, it would be new staff. I believe cultural affairs is helping adjust vacancies,” Kelly said.

Members also discussed prior increases. A member noted the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) recommendation and earlier adjustments: “AJFC adopted the LFC recommendation for the PRC, and that recommendation included an increase in the general fund of 329,000 for additional FTE,” a committee member summarized, adding the $200,000 in HAFC’s scenario would be “on top of that.”

DFA staff needs funding to manage additional workload from new legislation and special appropriations; HAFC’s scenario provides $458,000 for personnel across two P-codes, with the committee noting some of that would support local government and fiscal management programs that pay out state obligations.

Committee members repeatedly described these increases as modest and within the committee’s growth framework; no final vote or formal action was taken in the work‑group discussion. Staff said the amounts would be revisited as other work groups report and ahead of any Monday full-committee adoption.

The proposals aim to align agency capacity with new statutory responsibilities while limiting recurring spending growth. HAFC staff said they plan to provide committee members with P-code details and additional background ahead of the full-committee meeting.

Ending: The work group concluded without adopting language; staff will circulate more detailed P-code and implementation materials for members to review before the full committee meets.