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Senator objects after House halves PCB testing funding; committee asks for more detail
Summary
A committee member objected to the House reducing the governor's PCB testing appropriation by half, arguing the testing mandate imposes costs and operational burdens on school districts; Joint Fiscal Office staff said House members had asked for detail that the administration had not supplied.
A Senate Health and Welfare Committee member expressed strong opposition April 10 after staff briefing showed the House had cut the governor’s proposed $408,000 appropriation for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) testing at the Department of Health by half.
The senator argued the testing requirement had imposed significant operational disruption and expense on school districts and said reductions in state funding would shift costs onto local education budgets and hamper education transformation efforts. The senator said the legislature had previously required the testing and that pausing or underfunding it would be “deleterious to school districts.”
Joint Fiscal Office staff responded that the House asked the administration for more detailed information about how many schools and what the dollars would buy, and that staff did not receive answers sufficient to satisfy House members. That lack of information was cited by House members as a reason to reduce the appropriation.
A committee member asked whether Buildings and General Services had paused testing amid district transitions; staff said they heard testing activity and that vendors were performing work in the field and that funding currently exists in the budget for some testing. Committee members were advised to raise the question of implementation details in appropriations and with the administering agencies.
No formal vote or change to policy occurred during the briefing; the exchange focused on whether the administration had provided adequate documentation to justify the governor’s proposed funding.
