Appropriations committee reviews capital bill: cash vs. bonded funding, three housing projects and Veterans Home incubator farm

Committee members spent the bulk of the hearing reviewing the Senate capital bill spreadsheet and the committee’s proposed changes to the governor’s recommendations, emphasizing the committee’s intent to increase use of cash funding rather than bonded debt and flagging several projects the committee judged to be close to “shovel ready.”

Wendy Harrison, chair of Institutions, explained the committee’s focus on cash funds and the two‑year bonding cap: “So in 2023, the previous treasurer, and governor and, and the legislature, agreed on a system where we would have cash funding for a capital program so that we wouldn't be limited to bonded dollars which have an interest cost to them. … There’s a committee that decides before we embark on a on a 2 year capital bill that limits the amount of bonding … this 2 year period was a hundred million dollars…