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Joint Budget Committee approves seasonal admin slot, cuts operating funds in JBC staff budget
Summary
The Joint Budget Committee approved converting one administrative assistant position to seasonal status and accepted operating expense reductions as part of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) staff recommendation for FY 2025–26. The committee also approved the legislative line-item base appropriation for the JBC staff.
Director Harper, director of Joint Budget Committee staff, presented the committee with the JBC staff figure‑setting recommendation, asking members to approve a total appropriation of $3,300,000 and 20.3 full‑time equivalent positions for fiscal year 2025–26. Harper said the office is “about 96% personal services” and that compensation and benefits are the main cost drivers, noting the recommendation assumes a placeholder for the Statewide Common Policy for compensation and benefits that includes a 3.1% salary survey and roughly $68,000 for health, life and dental insurance within the $142,000 compensation placeholder.
The committee focused discussion on two staff proposals. The first (R1) would convert one of two Administrative Assistant II positions to a seasonal appointment, producing a savings of roughly $31,000 and 0.4 FTE. Harper described the plan as a front‑desk, session‑only model that would staff the front desk from Nov. 1 through May 15 and convert the affected position to a daily‑rate seasonal appointment, noting the calculation used a $50,000 annual salary converted to a daily rate. Harper said the reduction spreads roughly $29,000 against the JBC line item and about $2,300 for supplemental PERA payments.
The second change (R2) would reduce operating expenses by about $15,000. Harper proposed cutting purchased services by $11,300 (leaving $5,000) and out‑of‑state travel by $8,240 (also leaving $5,000) and reallocating $5,000 to information‑technology professional services to support CLIMB, the committee’s mission‑critical budget database.
Committee members debated R1 at length. Madam Vice Chair objected to the seasonal conversion in a first motion to reject R1, saying she did not support that cut; that motion failed on a 2–4 vote with Representatives Taggart, Senator Kirkmeyer, Bridges and Amabile recorded as objecting to the motion to reject. The committee then moved to adopt staff recommendation R1; that motion passed on a 4–2 vote with Representative Byrd and Representative Saroda recorded as objecting. The committee separately approved R2 (operating expense reduction) unanimously, 6–0.
Members pressed Harper on flexibility to restore the 0.4 FTE later (if needed). Harper said he had kept room in the overall personal services line and could, if the committee desired, reallocate personal‑services funds midyear to re‑establish staffing if the seasonal model proved unworkable. Multiple members emphasized the office is “very lean” on operating dollars and that the staff had tried to protect mission‑critical items. Harper explained the $142,000 compensation placeholder will be realigned if the committee adopts a different Statewide Common Policy for compensation and benefits.
After votes on R1 and R2, the committee approved the JBC staff line‑item detail and the base appropriation for the legislative appropriation bill on a voice‑vote without objection (6–0). Harper told the committee there were no footnotes or requests for information specific to the JBC appropriation.
The discussion touched on a broader concern among members about rapid increases in Health Life and Dental costs across small offices. Representative Jagger and others noted a 53% increase in HLD costs in two years for small offices and asked staff for further modeling; Harper and staff said small changes in enrollment or family coverage can swing costs significantly for small staffs and offered to provide additional detail if requested. Harper also described prior hiring and turnover issues that motivated the seasonal‑position recommendation: the office has struggled to simultaneously onboard two admin hires effectively and sought a model that ensured front‑desk coverage during the busy session without maintaining a year‑round third administrative position.
The committee left open the technical step of mirroring any eventual Executive Committee decision on the common compensation policy and indicated staff would update appropriation tables to reflect the committee’s final common‑policy choices when those were known.
