Department of Human Resources seeks 9% budget increase; requests $1.575M for classification overhaul

Beth Fastigi, Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources, told the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 12 that the department is requesting a 9% budget increase for fiscal 2026 and that three-quarters of that increase is attributable to salary and benefit costs.

The request includes a $1,575,000 appropriation in the governor's Big Bill to fund a multi-year modernization of the state's classification system, which Fastigi said was built in the 1980s and produces unpredictable annual reclassification costs. "Our system now mostly looks at jobs individually," Fastigi said, "and it's time to kind of relook at everything, and that's why we need to have a consultant to come in and assist us." The department reported that reclassification-related costs have ranged between $2.1 million and $7.1 million in the past five years and that it completed 1,124 class reviews affecting 1,187 employees over the past year.

Fastigi presented the department's workforce report and budget materials, describing the Department of Human Resources (DHR) as primarily funded through internal service funds with a roughly 10% general-fund share and small special funds. DHR employs six exempt and 104 classified staff, and more than 70% of its budget is personnel costs. "You would want to follow along the Department…