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Committee reviews Senate changes to HB 1010 budget, including new attorney FTE, securities transfer and fee updates
Summary
Members of the House Appropriations - Government Operations Division discussed Senate amendments to the HB 1010 budget that add an attorney FTE for the fire marshal division, move 10 securities FTEs (and operating costs) into the insurance division, reduce requested attorney equity funding and update fees in section 5.
Members of the House Appropriations - Government Operations Division met in a conference-committee session to review Senate changes to the budget contained in House Bill 1010, focusing on staffing moves, equity pay adjustments and updated fees for the securities division.
Senator Sickler, explaining the Senate’s changes, said the Senate added “1 FTE attorney position” intended to be the primary attorney for the fire marshal division and a secondary attorney for fraud prosecution and other enforcement work. He said the committee compared the requested duties with existing attorneys’ workloads and concluded “there was enough work load to, to justify that FTE.”
The Senate moved 10 FTEs from the securities division into the insurance department budget “as it existed,” including operating costs, Representative Pyle said when asking whether the transfer included desks, computer systems and rent. Senator Sickler confirmed it did: “That brought over all the operating expenses. So it just brought over that stand alone budget and wrapped it entirely under insurance.” Committee members also noted Commissioner Karski will move with the securities functions and that he is counted among the 10 positions.
On compensation adjustments, the Senate cut the department’s original attorney equity request of $255,000 to $150,000. Senator Sickler said the $150,000 would be split among five attorneys; he described the reduction as a response to salary data and concerns that the full request “would have resulted in some pretty significant dollar increases” over the next two years. Representative Munson asked for the supporting documentation; Senator Sickler said copies were available and offered to distribute them.
The Senate approved $45,000 in equity funding for the fire marshal division, noting the fire marshal unit had not received equity funding in the prior round and has had trouble recruiting, particularly in Williston. Committee members said the fire marshal still had two vacant FTEs, including one in Williston and another position whose location was not specified.
The Senate added two one-time funding items: roughly $63,000 for accrued leave payouts and a separate one-time appropriation for comp-time overtime, which members tied to transparency effects from the new and vacant FTE pool. Senator Sickler said the committee viewed those as appropriate one-time items.
Section 5 of the bill was amended to update fees charged to entities regulated by the securities division. Senator Dwyer asked whether the fee increases the Senate adopted matched the House position; members confirmed the fee changes in section 5 were the subject of that discussion.
Committee leadership said they expect multiple follow-up conference-committee meetings to reconcile Senate and House differences. Chair Mayer closed the session by scheduling additional conference committees and adjourning the meeting.
The committee did not record any formal votes during this session; members discussed the Senate changes and asked for additional documentation and follow-up meetings to resolve remaining questions.
