Legislative branch budget rises about $2.1 million for FY26; pay act and benefit rate changes drive most of the increase

Scott Moore, legislative finance manager for the Joint Fiscal Office, presented the legislative branch FY2026 budget to the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 14, 2025, recommending a total appropriation that initially totaled $24,544,703 for FY26, up from $22,427,405 in FY25.

Moore said the bulk of the increase was tied to recent compensation changes, noting that “approximately 90% of the overall budget growth is associated with the most recent pay act, corresponding benefits, [and] an increased increase in legislator expense reimbursement rates.” He told the committee the recommended budget includes no new permanent positions compared with the prior year.

The recommendation breaks down across the branch’s five business units: the legislature (which includes HR, legislative operations, the clerk of the house and speaker support) increased from about $11.4 million to $12.5 million; Legislative Council from about $4.2 million to $4.7 million; Joint Fiscal Office from about $2.8 million to $3.1 million; IT from about $2.2 million to $2.4 million; and Sergeant at Arms from about $1.6 million to $1.8 million. Moore said the FY25 total appropriation was $22,427,405 and the FY26 recommendation represented a $2,117,298 change (roughly a 9.44% increase). After identifying $121,000 in reversionable, one-time or expired line items, Moore said the net increase would be about 8.9%.

Moore also explained that the original packet submitted in December did not include updated internal service fund expenses or the most recent health-care and benefits rates, which arrived from central offices days after that presentation. Those additional costs added roughly $500,000 to the original recommendation; Moore said the updated bottom-line appearing later in the packet is $24,026,591. He said that when those additional internal service fund and benefit-rate costs are required, the legislative branch would request the additional allotment from the general fund and would notify the speaker and president pro tempore.

On specific items, Moore said operating budgets were largely level-funded to be fiscally conservative, with a few targeted increases such as vehicle maintenance. He called out several program-level details: the Sergeant at Arms total includes full-time staff (named in discussion as Agatha and Sid), session-only staff (pages and doorkeepers), and Capitol Police (budgeted at eight positions including chief and sergeants), and Moore said he could provide a salary breakdown on request. He noted a previously discussed shift of advertising dollars into a central HR posting function and that a session-only law clerk position approved earlier is funded for nine months rather than a full year in this packet.

Committee members thanked staff for the work. Representative Harris said committee members “really do appreciate the work and support that we have” from fiscal and operations staff. Committee members also questioned whether level-funded operating lines are realistic given inflation; Moore responded that the office tried to be conservative and that actual spending in recent years has typically been slightly lower than budgeted amounts.

There was no formal vote recorded during the presentation. Moore said the packet had been presented to the Joint Legislative Management Committee and that staff would bring forward any adjustments tied to updated rates to the speaker and pro tempore for approval.