Conference negotiators back limited-term home-repair fraud coordinator, question additional AG positions

Members of the Appropriations conference committee proposed extending an existing home-repair fraud coordinator as a limited-service position rather than adding new permanent positions at the Attorney General’s Office.

Speaker 2 described the coordinator position as returning substantial recoveries — citing roughly $800,000 returned to residents in recent years — and proposed continuing the role as limited service rather than folding it into the ongoing base. The committee signaled reluctance to add a separate $150,000 solicitor-general position as permanent base pay; Speaker 2 offered making that role limited service for two years if the committee chose to support it.

The committee also discussed the pre-charge program administered through the judiciary. Speaker 2 said the program originally appeared in budget discussions at about $1.6 million and, after consultations, the request was reduced to about $1.1 million; an additional $300,000 had been added later, which some members said made them uncomfortable. Participants noted that the program currently exists in a small number of counties and that broader expansion would increase costs if participants who would otherwise avoid court instead enter the court system.

No formal roll-call votes are recorded in the transcript on these staffing proposals. Committee members asked staff to return with formal language and options (for example, making one or more positions limited service or retaining funding as grants) so the group could finalize decisions.

Staff were directed to follow up with a fuller proposal on positions at the Attorney General’s Office and with additional detail about the pre-charge rollout and county coverage before any final budget language is adopted.