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Conference committee agrees to $2.5M cash line for municipal housing infrastructure; $600K for BTS maintenance
Summary
Members of the Senate Institutions conference committee, meeting with the House Institutions and Corrections conference committee on May 7, agreed to include a $2.5 million all-cash line item in the capital bill for "municipally owned infrastructure improvements that support the development of new or rehabilitated housing," and to allocate $600,000 in cash for major maintenance for BTS, committee members said.
Members of the Senate Institutions conference committee, meeting with the House Institutions and Corrections conference committee on May 7, agreed to include a $2.5 million all-cash line item in the capital bill for "municipally owned infrastructure improvements that support the development of new or rehabilitated housing," and to allocate $600,000 in cash for major maintenance for BTS, committee members said.
The agreement consolidates multiple proposed line items into a single $2.5 million cash appropriation and places the language in the capital bill rather than the operating budget. Committee members said the group moved from an initial committee position of $0 to $2 million in the House budget position and then to the $2.5 million figure now proposed for the capital bill.
"2,500,000.0," John, a conference committee member, read aloud when presenting the single line-item language: "municipally owned infrastructure improvements that support the development of new or rehabilitated housing." Committee members discussed keeping the description broad to cover projects meant to stimulate housing development.
Committee members said the $2.5 million would be cash only; the conference committee opposed using bonded financing for that line item. "All cash. No bond," one committee member said when asked whether bonds were part of the proposal.
Members also discussed consolidating three previously separate line items into a single entry on the spreadsheet. "I'll take the 3 b's line item, and I'll add 1 underneath it...2500000.0," Scott Moore, a conference committee member, said he would do to reflect the new structure.
The committee indicated it would inform the appropriations committees of the change. "So whatever it takes to get that news to the appropriations committees, are you guys okay with us saying that we are doing that?" one member asked; another replied, "Yes." Committee members characterized that direction as agreed and described it as a next step rather than a formal vote.
No formal motion or roll-call vote was recorded in the discussion transcript provided. Committee members said they were "okay" with another item discussed (expressed verbally as $6,625,000 in the transcript; the exact figure in the recording was not clear) and with returning three other projects to appropriations.
Next steps identified by members include notifying the appropriations committees and finalizing the single line-item language for the capital bill. Committee members said they would continue conferring as needed to finalize structure and spreadsheet entries.
