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Committee approves $1.27 million for occupational licensing operations; adds reporting language
Summary
The Joint Finance Appropriations Committee approved $1,268,900 in dedicated funds for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses—covering inspector pay, fleet replacements and IT hardware—and unanimously accepted language aligning reporting requirements and raising a fund balance cap to 50%.
The Joint Finance Appropriations Committee voted to add $1,268,900 in dedicated funds to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses for fiscal year 2026 and accepted, by unanimous consent, accompanying language to align reporting and increase a fund balance cap.
Budget analyst Kellen McGurkin told the committee that DOPL regulates more than 200,000 licensees across 45 boards and commissions and is funded entirely through dedicated fees. McGurkin summarized three enhancement requests totaling $1,268,900: an ongoing dedicated‑fund increase for inspector pay, $900,500 one‑time for vehicle replacements to support field inspector travel, and $146,401 one‑time for information‑technology and conference‑room hardware recommended by the Office of Information Technology Services.
McGurkin said the inspector pay enhancement of $222,000 would increase pay by an average of $0.95 per hour across 92 full‑time positions; the division reported high turnover in inspector positions, with an average of 26 vacancies and a high vacancy rate of 62% cited in exit interviews. The vehicle replacement request totaled $900,500 and the analyst provided a vendor breakdown: $648,000 for 16 Ford F‑150s; $160,500 for five Ford Escapes; $44,500 for one Ford F‑250; and $43,000 for one Ford Explorer. The IT request totaled $146,401, of which $23,300 was for conference‑room equipment and $123,100 for 76 standard laptops, 35 docking stations and network equipment.
Representative Furness moved the funding package; Senator Quick seconded. The recorded vote produced a committee tally of 16 ayes and 4 nays. The chair announced the item will move forward with a do‑pass recommendation.
After the funding motion, the committee reviewed draft language that, according to the analyst, aligns the division’s appropriation reporting requirements with policy bill 152. The language adds a quarterly reporting requirement on the expenses and revenues of each of the 45 boards and commissions to the Legislative Services Office and the related board, and raises an upper cap on individual fund balances from 25% to 50% per a Legislative Audits Division recommendation. Representative Furness requested unanimous consent to accept the language as shown on the screen; no member objected and the language will go forward with the motion.
