Trust Lands presents SB2013 budget, details $7 billion portfolio, compensation study and staffing requests

Joseph Herringer, commissioner of the Board of University and School Lands and the Department of Trust Lands, presented Senate Bill 2013 to the House Appropriations Committee’s Government Operations Division and described the department’s revenue sources, proposed staffing changes and a compensation study intended to address turnover.

Herringer said the department is “a special funds agency, so we don't affect the general fund at all,” and told members the department manages roughly $7 billion in invested assets in the Common Schools Trust Fund and related permanent funds.

The presentation said the Common Schools Trust Fund balance was about $7 billion at the end of fiscal 2024, and that the department projects $585 million in distributions to beneficiaries in the 2025–27 biennium, a 17% increase over the previous biennium. Herringer described the department’s revenue mix — royalties, lease bonuses, right‑of‑way fees and investment returns — and noted the Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund (SIF) produced more than $200 million in revenue in the last fiscal year.

Herringer and Adam Ottison, director of revenue compliance, outlined investment performance and staffing. Herringer reported the department…