Select Committee on Capital Financing & Investments prioritizes interim studies on state facilities, permanent funds, taxes and school finance

The Select Committee on Capital Financing & Investments met to prioritize proposed interim topics and agreed to move forward with studies of statewide facilities maintenance, proposals to create a generational (intergenerational) fund, multiple sales-and-use-tax distribution issues, long-term K–12 finance options, gaming-receipts consolidation and a constitutional change to redefine “income” as “earnings.”

The committee, a statutory select committee charged with monitoring investment and capital-financing policy, heard presentations and discussion from state treasurer staff, county commissioners’ representatives and legislative staff about scope and timing for each topic. Treasurer Meyer described the fund-design discussion as “essentially called the endowment model,” and warned lawmakers that a change in the constitutional definition of distributable money would require a concrete spending policy to avoid eroding purchasing power over time.

Why this matters: the committee’s selections shape what the Legislature studies during the interim and what issues management council receives as proposed interim topics. The subjects under consideration bear directly on how the state maintains buildings, invests permanent funds, distributes tax collections to local government and schools, and structures long-term funding for education and infrastructure.

State facilities and HB 86

Members recalled last year’s legislation and work by the Joint Appropriations Committee and the State Construction Department that led to House Bill 86, which established a strategic planning process for statewide…