Appropriations Committee trims treasurer budget, adds emergency IT spending authority

Bismarck ' The Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday amended and voted to advance House Bill 1005, the budget for the State Treasurer, removing a House-funded transfer of unclaimed property to the treasurer's office, adding a small salary-equity appropriation and approving an emergency clause to allow one-time information-technology spending to be accessed sooner.

The committee's action cleared three separate votes: approval of the amendment to the treasurer's engrossed bill, passage of a further amendment adding an emergency clause for one-time IT dollars, and a do-pass recommendation on the bill as amended. Chairman Beckettall presided; Senator Burkhart led the bill presentation and moved the primary amendment.

Why it matters: The changes affect how certain revenues and one-time funds are handled across agencies and seek to give the treasurer's office authority to implement IT changes before the next distribution cycle. The emergency clause was requested to accelerate work needed to map recent formula and tax changes into…