Senate Finance Subcommittee advances DOT FY26 recommendations, extends FY25 carryforward and requests Dalton Highway fee study

The Senate Finance Subcommittee for the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities moved its FY 2026 operating budget recommendations to the full Senate Finance Committee by unanimous consent during a short meeting on April 16, 2005. The subcommittee denied all general fund increment requests, accepted several non-general-fund items from the governor's amended budget, and directed staff and agencies to provide follow-up reports.

David Scott, staff to Senator Don Stedman, read the subcommittee's FY 2026 recommendations on the record, listing the fund components the subcommittee reported: unrestricted general funds (UGF) of $175,765,000; designated general funds (DGF) of $72,886,000; other funds of $1,274,000; and federal funds of $81,842,000. Scott also read an intent provision directing the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to report on the feasibility of designating the Dalton Highway as an industrial-use highway to enable fee collection for maintenance; that report is due to the co-chairs of the finance committees by Dec. 20, 2025.

The subcommittee reported total staffing counts as permanent full-time 3,027; permanent part-time 269; temporary 149; total positions 3,445. The subcommittee said it made no additions to the governor's amended budget request and denied all UGF increment requests because of constraints on available revenue. The subcommittee also made several reductions and funding-source changes, including:

- $4,500,000 in capital project receipts for Dalton Highway aggregate stockpiles (accepted as requested); - a fund-source change of $2,875,000 from UGF to federal receipts for the Whittier Tunnel; - a $32,800 UGF reduction to the commissioner's office for travel, returning that office to FY 2024 funding levels; - a $2,246,000 earnings (EGF) reduction to reflect a 10% extension to the life cycle of the state equipment fleet; - a $3,000,000 EGF reduction to maintenance and operations to align with proposed FY 2025 carry-forward funding.

Scott told the subcommittee the full committee was also being asked to extend the lapsed date for FY 2025 appropriations for the Department's three highway and aviation facility regional appropriations (Northern, Central and South Coast) through June 30, 2026. The subcommittee said that extension would allow cost savings from FY 2025 to carry forward into FY 2026 to help offset UGF reductions.

Senator Lyman Dunbar asked the Department whether amendments (identified in the record as amendments 4, 5 and 6 in the other body) that would add regional operating budget authority to access existing capital federal authority — and thereby create additional position authority in the Central Region — changed DOT's position on staffing. Dom Pinone of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities responded that the amendments create additional operating authority that would access existing federal authority in the capital budget and do not create additional federal funds or require additional match. Andy Mills, special assistant at DOT, said the department had seen inquiries from staff and at a town-hall meeting about creating position authority but that adding position authority does not itself create additional staff. Mills said DOT has some vacancies and that while additional position authority could give the department an option to pursue additional staffing, it would not necessarily accelerate project phases that require environmental review and other processes.

Senator John Bjorkman moved to advance the subcommittee's FY 2026 operating budget report for the Department of Transportation, with attached Legislative Finance reports (the budget action sheet and the wordage report), and to direct the Legislative Finance Division to make conforming and technical changes. The motion was advanced to the full Senate Finance Committee by unanimous consent after the chair asked for objections and none were raised. The meeting adjourned at 8:13 a.m.

The subcommittee also noted that its wordage report includes the Dalton Highway study intent on page 2 and that attached budget action and wordage reports accompanied the subcommittee submission to the full committee.