Senate-House conference trims bond requests, shifts some capital projects to cash funding

Sen. Wendy Harrison, chair of the Senate Institutions Committee, told House representatives at the committee-of-conference that the Senate is generally supportive of using cash funds rather than additional bonding to reduce borrowing and long-term debt service costs.

Harrison said the committee used a reconciliation spreadsheet showing the governor’s recommendation, the House response and the Senate response, and shaded where either body differed from the governor. "In general, speaking to the bonding versus the cash dollars, our committee is generally supportive of the concept," she said.

The committee described a set of targeted changes and reductions to move money into cash funds and trim bond requests so other items could be preserved. On a bundle of Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) projects, the Senate reduced the allocation for a three-acre partial stormwater compliance project in fiscal year 2027 (FY27) to free up funds for items listed in Section 4 of the reconciliation package. Harrison said the reduction is expected to be restored to an appropriate level in FY27 if additional funding is required after FY26 work is complete.

Committee members…