The Senate Finance Committee voted to change the distribution of specified revenues, moving the Education Trust Fund share from 41% to 35.5% and increasing the general fund share to 64.5%.

The change, approved under the Department of Revenue Administration item on the committee’s package, will allow the Legislature to use more revenue in the general fund while the committee said it still intends to meet education obligations.

A committee member explained the goal: the Legislative Budget Assistant (LBA) was directed to maintain a surplus balance in the Education Trust Fund between $25 million and $30 million. “I directed the LBA…to keep a balance between 25 and $30,000,000 of surplus in the education trust fund and these numbers will meet that,” a committee member said during debate.

Senator Osman asked specifically about the ending balance in the Education Trust Fund; the committee member repeated the $25 million to $30 million target as the basis for the change. The committee then voted; the motion carried with the ayes prevailing.

The committee did not specify exact statutory citation language in the discussion; the motion was taken as part of the committee’s regular package and will be folded into the bill language tracked by staff. No additional amendments or offsets were recorded during the floor discussion in committee.

The committee moved on to other items after the vote.