Summary
Assistant Minority Leader Winter asked the committee to repeal a $4 million appropriation that she says duplicates Attorney General services and would return the money to the general fund; after debate the committee postponed the bill indefinitely.
Assistant Minority Leader Winter asked the State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee to repeal a $4 million appropriation that had been placed in the governor's office to fund litigation against the federal government. "This bill repeals authority under House Bill 20 five‑thirteen 21 to use IJA cash funds to litigation against the federal government," Winter said, arguing the appropriation duplicates work already performed by the Attorney General's office and could instead be returned to the general fund.
Winter said the money would be significant for rural counties that face tight budgets. "Dollars 4,000,000 will make and break most counties," she told the committee, saying the appropriation sat unused in the governor's office and could help keep services such as an OB ward or snowplowing in smaller counties.
Several members pressed Winter for details about how the appropriation would interact with existing legal work. Representative Espinosa noted that some expenditures in the governor's package had been described as covering services the Attorney General's Office could not provide because of conflicts. "Isn't it true that some of what we were authorizing in that $4,000,000 was expenditures for funds that the attorney general would need that they could not provide services for?" Espinosa asked; Winter replied that the statute was written that way even if she disagreed with it.
Representative Bottoms asked about the governor's existing fund balance; another member said the fund already had about $56 million before the $4 million appropriation. Members also debated whether removing the appropriation would hamper the state’s ability to challenge federal actions; Winter and supporters said the Attorney General’s office is fully funded and would continue any necessary litigation.
After public comment period closed with no witnesses, Vice Chair Clifford moved to send the bill to the Committee on Appropriations. That referral motion was defeated on the recorded roll call. Clifford then moved to postpone the bill indefinitely; that motion passed on a reverse roll call vote, and House Bill 25B‑10‑19 was postponed indefinitely.
