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Senate Finance committee adopts amendments to House Bill 2, rebudgeting targets and school funding adjustments
Summary
Senate Finance members approved a committee package of adjustments to House Bill 2 that reallocates recurring spending, funds secondary school-weighting reforms contingent on SB 376, and preserves road and transportation maintenance funding; the committee vote passed on a roll call.
Senate Finance committee members approved a package of recommended adjustments to House Bill 2 that reshapes recurring and nonrecurring appropriations and incorporates a set of education and health funding changes. Committee staff and the chairman walked members through a 214-line mark-up spreadsheet and described how the adjustments align with the committee’s reserve and growth targets.
The committee package increased recurring general-fund spending by roughly $23 million in the markup and funded several priorities, including full secondary school formula reforms (contingent on enactment of Senate Bill 376), behavioral health and school-based supports, rural health delivery, and rural air service pilots. Members were told the spreadsheet consolidates prior special appropriations into recurring items where appropriate and that the State Investment Council and Legislative Finance Committee analyses were used to test impacts on the Early Childhood Trust Fund and other long-term accounts.
Committee staff described technical and drafting moves, transfers to cover health benefits liabilities, and line-by-line reductions and reallocations for nonrecurring projects. The markup restores road maintenance funding for state districts and earmarks motor vehicle excise tax revenue for local transportation projects; it also contains one-time and recurring funding for juvenile and pretrial services and for a statewide crisis/behavioral-health call center. Senator questions focused on reporting and monitoring requirements for pilots (for example, electric school buses) and on the source of particular state funds.
After discussion the committee voted to adopt the proposed adjustments to House Bill 2. The motion to adopt was seconded by Senator Brandt and carried on a roll call. Several committee members were assigned to a drafting “cleanup” group to finalize statutory language before the amendment is drafted and filed with the legislative counsel; staff said drafting instructions required approximately three days.
What this means: The committee’s action produces the finance committee’s recommended version of House Bill 2 for further floor action with funding lines realigned to the committee’s fiscal targets and with contingencies tied to related bills such as SB 376. Committee staff said the package remains subject to final drafting and to adjustments based on House actions and the final LFC/SIC numbers.
