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Appropriations committee gives do‑pass recommendation to rural catalyst grants bill with amendments
Summary
Senate Bill 23‑90, the rural catalyst/community grants bill, was amended to remove a minority‑group definition, authorize committee expense reimbursement, add grocery‑store eligibility and reduce funding from $30 million to $5 million; the committee moved a do‑pass as amended (14‑2).
The Appropriations Committee approved a do‑pass recommendation on Senate Bill 23‑90 as amended by the committee. Amendments removed a definition of “minority group,” authorized reimbursement of committee expenses (travel and per diem), added grocery‑store projects as eligible uses, and reduced the bill’s grant funding from $30,000,000 to $5,000,000.
Sponsor remarks characterized the change as a narrowing and clarification: the regional catalysis/endowment concept remains but was pared back materially in the funding amount. One senator asked whether removing the minority‑group definition could affect tribal eligibility; sponsor Senator Dwyer said the statute for regional councils did not depend on that definition and the committee removed it after review.
Committee vote: The committee recorded a do‑pass as amended motion carried 14 in favor and 2 opposed, according to the clerk’s roll call. Sponsor and committee remarks said the bill will operate as a pass‑through grant program administered by the Department of Commerce, with an associated endowment bill moving in parallel to generate longer‑term funding in the future.
Next steps: Senator Dwyer will carry the bill; committee sponsors said the measure complements an amended endowment bill and existing rural grants approved elsewhere in the budget package.
