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E and E division told Resource Trust Fund will be $115 million smaller; committee to reassess water projects
Summary
At a short Appropriations - Education and Environment Division meeting, an unidentified committee member said available funding from the Resource Trust Fund is about $115 million less than in the original budget, prompting requests that agencies and stakeholders rework project numbers while staff crunch figures over the coming weeks.
An unidentified committee member told the Appropriations - Education and Environment Division on Friday that available funding from the Resource Trust Fund will be about $115,000,000 less than in the original budget, a reduction that the member said will force the committee and agencies to rework priorities, especially water projects.
“I called the E and E division back to order,” the unidentified committee member said. “...the available funding that's gonna be out of the Resource Trust Fund, the number I have now, is gonna be $115,000,000 less than we had on the original budget.”
The speaker said the cut reflects changes tied to the Resource Trust Fund and long-term declines related to stripper wells, and that the committee should assume a lower baseline going into the next biennium: “we'll probably be in that mid 3 hundreds going into next biennium.” The member added that some revolving loan fund money remains and that leadership has already begun internal discussions about rebalancing priorities.
Committee members were told the Senate is unlikely to support large new bonding at this time and that other financing tools — carryover, lines of credit and revolving loan funds — will be part of conversations about how to preserve “healthy water projects.” The speaker said the Senate “is not too excited about bonding, at this point in time,” and cautioned that the version of the budget that leaves the Senate will look different and likely less generous.
The committee chair asked agencies and stakeholder groups to review their requested amounts and be prepared to provide reduced figures if asked: “I might be asking you for a different number.” The speaker said staff will meet with banks and department officials and planned one-on-one follow-ups with committee members before resuming substantive committee discussion.
No formal motions or votes were recorded in the meeting. The speaker said the committee probably would not discuss the item in depth until next week and noted there are about three weeks to “really crunch” the numbers. The meeting record also indicates scheduling for further committee sessions the following morning and additional agenda items later in the day.
The session ended with the chair setting follow-up work: staff and stakeholders will re-run estimates, meet individually with committee members and reconvene once a bottom line is clearer. No final decisions about specific projects or allocations were made at the meeting.
