JBC transfers $1 million from apprenticeship cash funds after debate

The Joint Budget Committee voted 4‑1 to transfer $1,000,000 from two apprenticeship grant cash funds — $500,000 each from the Scale Up Grant Program and the Qualified Apprenticeship Intermediary program — as part of the committee’s comebacks for balancing the current budget.

Representative Serota moved the transfer, which the committee approved with Representative Burt excused and Senator Kirkmeyer recorded as the lone no vote. Committee discussion focused on the programs’ origin (one was previously federally funded, the other appears to be a pilot), their importance to workforce development, and whether departments could use federal or workforce dollars instead of cash fund balances. JBC staff advised that the two cash funds contained roughly $2,600,000 in remaining balances; taking $1,000,000 would leave about $1,300,000 available for future grants.

Staff clarified a technical bookkeeping approach: the committee will effect the transfer in the 2025 transfer bill, but split the downstream long‑bill appropriation reductions across two fiscal years (reducing $250,000 in each program in FY 25‑26 and again in FY 26‑27) so the appropriation lines and multi‑year spending authority reconcile with the one‑time transfer. The committee also instructed staff to include the transfer in drafting of the 2025 transfer bill.

Members who spoke in favor cited the value of apprenticeship programs but said budget constraints required a proportional reduction rather than eliminating the grants entirely. Members who opposed the move argued the programs had demonstrated value and could be supplemented with federal workforce dollars instead of cutting cash funds.

The motion passed 4‑1. Staff will prepare the transfer bill language and the technical long‑bill adjustments the committee described.