Appropriations panel shifts Highway Patrol one-time items onto electronic permit fee, approves carryover of DOJ grant

The government operations section of the House Appropriations Committee approved an amended version of Senate Bill 2011 that moves multiple one-time Highway Patrol expenditures from the general fund and other accounts to the electronic permit fee fund and adds a carryover provision for remaining federal grant dollars.

The amendment, moved by Representative Lea Pyle and seconded by Representative Fisher, reallocated one-time funding lines including body armor ($158,000), preliminary breath test devices (about $43,000), handgun replacement (about $172,000 from fees and $28,000 from SIF), and emergency vehicle operations course resurfacing ($260,000) from the general fund or SIF to the electronic permit fee fund. Committee budget staff said the electronic permit fee fund is expected to hold roughly $2,300,000 over a biennium depending on oil-truck permit activity.

Committee staff described the change as a funding-source swap only, not an increase in total appropriations. “It’s just no added money, just moving it from general fund over to electronic permitting fees fund,” a committee member summarized during the meeting.

Members also added a new section (section 9) to authorize spending of $480,000 in remaining federal grant funds awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice for completion of an in-car router system; committee staff said $20,000 had been spent to date and the carryover language is needed to allow expenditure of the remaining balance.

The committee voted on the amendment and then on a motion to give Senate Bill 2011 a “do pass as amended” recommendation to the full committee. Clerk roll calls recorded the following yes votes on the final do-pass motion: Chairman Munson; Vice Chair Brandenburg; Representative Bosch; Representative Fisher; Representative Kempenick; Representative Meyer; and Representative Pyle. The motions to amend and to pass as amended carried unanimously in committee.

Budget staff explained the mathematics behind the reallocations: shifting the one-time items into the electronic permit fee column would result in roughly $200,000–$260,000 (varies by line) being tracked as “other funds” in the worksheet, and they estimated about $2.3 million in permit fee receipts over a biennium, subject to oil activity and other permitting demand.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about whether restored “trooper costs” in the ongoing funding section represented salaries or operating costs; staff replied the restorations reflected positions and operating costs restored from earlier base reductions. Members also confirmed the DOJ grant is federal funding and that the carryover authority would permit the Highway Patrol to complete the router project.

With the amendments adopted and the do-pass recommendation recorded, the committee reported that Senate Bill 2011 will be taken up by the full committee.

The committee then moved on to other agenda items.