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Appropriations committee approves bill suspending interim committees, citing budget savings
Summary
House Appropriations advanced Senate Bill 199, which suspends certain interim committees and reduces legislative appropriations, after sponsors said the move saves about $272,000 and 2.6 FTE; the bill passed the committee unanimously.
The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 199, a measure that suspends many interim and statutory committees for the 2025–26 interim to reduce legislative appropriations.
Minority Leader Pugliese and Speaker McCleskey, sponsors of the bill, told the committee the change is intended to help close the state’s budget shortfall. Speaker McCleskey said eliminating interim committees saves approximately $272,000 and 2.6 FTE for the next fiscal year and acknowledged the value of interim committee work while arguing the suspension is a prudent short-term step.
The committee adopted amendment J002, which the sponsors described as a technical fix related to restoring Koyak funding that the Senate had moved incorrectly. With that amendment adopted, the committee voted to send the bill to the Committee of the Whole; the committee record shows the bill passed unanimously.
Representative Luck asked staff to check language in the bill referencing report deadlines (struck dates on page 6, line 8) so the sponsors could determine whether to retain, modify or remove language on a final report; sponsors acknowledged the point and said they would follow up.
Next steps: Senate Bill 199 will go to the Committee of the Whole with the committee’s recommendation; sponsors said they expect the suspension to be temporary and that statutory committees could be restored in the future.
