Appropriations committee advances legislative-branch budget after questions about annex furniture and cash-fund transfers

The House Appropriations Committee voted 8-3 to advance Senate Bill 188, the legislative-branch budget, after discussion about cash-fund transfers and a large line item for annex furniture.

Speaker McCleskey and Majority Leader Duran presented the budget package and said leadership and agency directors had reduced spending across the branch. The package includes a net general-fund reduction of about $2.5 million and proposed transfers from the legislative department cash fund to lower general-fund pressure; the sponsors described a roughly 4.3 million transfer in the initial materials with the Senate later adding $1 million, which the House sought to handle through the executive committee and the joint budget process.

Representative Taggart questioned a $4 million furniture line in the cash-fund plan, asking whether the cost could be tightened given the broader budget constraints. Speaker McCleskey said the cash fund — created in 2009 — has paid for building repairs, IT and other needs over time and that the annex construction requires furnishing 198 offices and more than 10 conference rooms. Director Natalie Castle of Legislative Council staff told the committee vendors on the state-approved bidder list had offered discounts; she said recent bids indicate furnishings for the annex would likely be about $1.2 million rather than the earlier $4 million estimate.

Representative Luck asked whether existing workstations could be moved to the annex to delay purchases; Castle said some furniture could be moved but that much of the existing furniture would not fit the annex offices or provide the professional environment nonpartisan staff expect.

The committee adopted amendment L012 (striking a transfer placed in the Senate version) without objection and then voted the bill to the Committee of the Whole. Sponsors said they plan an executive-committee transfer and expect the joint budget committee to effectuate transfers through the long bill process rather than the appropriations bill itself.

The legislative-branch package reduces certain interim committees, suspends some activities for the 2025-26 interim and includes a proposed transfer from the legislative department cash fund; sponsors emphasized that several agency budgets and proposals had received unanimous or near-unanimous oversight approvals before coming to appropriations.

Next steps: Senate Bill 188 will go to the Committee of the Whole with the committee-recommended changes. Sponsors said they will continue to coordinate with the joint budget committee on transfers and with Legislative Council staff on annex furnishing estimates.