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Senate Appropriations staff lay out FY26 budget spreadsheet; $60M of adjustments to resolve and many items still open
Summary
Committee staff walked senators through a line‑by‑line senate budget spreadsheet that reconciles governor and house positions, flagged open policy choices and items to move between base and one‑time funding, and identified an estimated budget gap of roughly $60 million that the committee must address.
Senate Appropriations staff spent significant time on April 11 reviewing the working FY26 budget spreadsheets, explaining how the senate column was populated from governor and house positions and flagging open items the committee must resolve.
What staff presented: staff said the senate column generally uses the higher of the governor or house positions unless committee conversations indicated otherwise. Staff noted color coding on the spreadsheets to indicate items that are open, changed or need additional review, and they walked through a series of departmental line items and program asks (law enforcement equipment, precharge diversion expansions, judiciary technical fund questions, school safety personnel transfers, conservation district grants, and many health and human services rate and program lines).
Open questions and priorities: staff highlighted a set of items left open for further research or committee direction, including how to reconcile overlapping reporting requirements between budget language and pending bills (for example, rate studies for community‑based organizations), whether certain expenditures should be base or one‑time (for example, emergency food pre‑stocking via DPS and parent‑child center tobacco cessation proposals), and clarifications on cash fund transfers and revenue assumptions. Staff said they will check with agencies on direct transfers (liquor control, sports wagering, unclaimed property) and confirm figures before finalizing the construct.
Budget gap: staff briefed senators that, after incorporating current changes and open requests, the senate construct shows a gap on the order of $60 million that must be addressed through reductions, reclassifications between base and one‑time, adjustments to transfers, or other revenue changes. Staff urged members to identify priorities and candidates to move to one‑time funding to stretch resources across FY26 and avoid deep base commitments that worsen the FY27 outlook.
Process and next steps: the committee agreed to continue line‑by‑line review, to reconcile technical questions with the Joint Fiscal Office and affected agencies, and to return with updated spreadsheets. Staff asked chairs to limit new asks and noted that bills with budget provisions not yet incorporated will be added to the work list for committee consideration.
No formal votes took place during the spreadsheet walkthrough; staff and senators used the session to set priorities and request follow‑up work.
