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Senate caucus reviews budget package, highlights full funding for state employee health trust and new tuition allocations
Summary
Caucus members heard a briefing on the Senate-engrossed budget that included full funding of the state employee health insurance trust, a new allocation 'waterfall' for military spouses' tuition programs and one-time figures for higher-education grants.
The Senate caucus heard a summary of the Senate-engrossed budget package that state staff said includes full funding for the state employee health insurance trust and new one-time allocations to higher-education scholarship programs.
Brendan, staff member, told members the package lists total revenues and spending figures and a small ongoing balance. He said the package includes a $194,900,000 appropriation to fully fund the state employee health insurance trust fund (HITIF) “that would not require the increase of any premiums or co pays on state employees.”
The briefing also described a newly established distribution, or "waterfall," for remaining balances in a veterans-related tuition scholarship fund. Brendan said the waterfall would allocate 60% of that money to the Arizona Promise Program, 30% to the Arizona Teachers Academy and 10% to the Community College Promise Program Fund. He said the total appropriation for the Arizona Promise Program would be about $36,000,000; the Arizona Teachers Academy would receive $9,000,000 this year; and the Community College Promise Program would receive $3,000,000.
Why it matters: the HITIF appropriation affects state employee benefits and premiums; the waterfall will direct one-time or limited balances to specific higher-education initiatives, changing available funding for those programs in the near term.
Members asked for clarifications about the waterfall numbers and their source. Brendan said the waterfall money was not coming from the general fund spreadsheet used in the briefing and that the Community College Promise allocation reflects an effort to fund that program after previous underutilization.
The caucus concluded the briefing without recorded formal action. The budget package will proceed through the regular legislative process, where specific appropriations, amendments and votes will be required.
