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Lawmakers hear plan to study using Capital Building Fund for a legislative office building
Summary
Senate Concurrent Resolution 40-24 directs legislative management to study whether funds in the Capital Building Fund could be used to build a legislative office structure to improve public access, parking and legislative visibility; sponsors stressed access and accessibility for citizens and future short‑term legislators.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 40‑24 would direct legislative management to consider studying the use of dedicated monies in the Capital Building Fund to build a legislative office structure, including potential underground parking and committee room space.
Senator Tim Mathern, who sponsored the resolution, told the Government and Veterans Affairs Committee he has raised the idea repeatedly since the 1980s and emphasized citizen access and mobility as primary drivers: "I think we need easier access, for citizens to come to our committee hearings...a convenient and a weather safe parking situation...A citizen has a difficult time even getting into the Capitol." Mathern described examples of visitors with mobility issues and urged a study to determine cost and feasibility rather than immediate action.
Mathern and supporters noted the Capital Building Fund has a balance (testimony cited roughly $13 million) and that savings may also come from reducing leased office space around the city. Representative Ben Koppelman, who testified he previously pressed the issue in 2019, recommended locating a new structure south of the current parking lot so committee rooms and legislative staff could be consolidated while keeping the historic chambers in the present Capitol.
Committee members asked about affordability, timing and optics for a facility that would be used intermittently; Mathern and Koppelman said interim committee work and other uses would make the space regularly used. Some members urged study language that would involve the Capitol Grounds Commission alongside legislative management.
No committee vote was recorded during the hearing. The record shows the sponsor urged study by legislative management, with additional input anticipated from the Capitol Grounds Commission and legislative management if the resolution is adopted for study.
