Appropriations Committee votes: summary of bills considered Feb. 27

The Senate Appropriations Committee met Feb. 27 and considered multiple bills across education, commerce, health, economic development and corrections. The committee approved amendments and recommended several bills for passage (due pass or due pass as amended) and sent a few to carrier assignment. Below are concise summaries and the committee’s recorded outcomes for each bill discussed after the agricultural diversification item.

Votes at a glance (committee action and short note):

- Senate Bill 02/1954 (school electronic device policy): Committee approved an amendment to strike a $300,000 grant provision and remove direction for the Superintendent of Public Instruction to identify approved storage containers. The committee then voted to give the bill a due pass as amended. (Motion carried; vote recorded in transcript as affirmative.)

- Senate Bill 02/2354? (note: transcript refers to 2,354 and 02/1954 interchangeably) — amendment and due pass as amended recorded.

- Senate Bill 02/2396 (independent audit of Commerce Department, incl. Development Fund): Committee reduced requested audit funding from $350,000 to $200,000, approved the amendment, and later gave the bill a due pass as amended. The sponsor and committee…