House Appropriations panel OKs carryover language, delays several new FTEs in Adjutant General budget

The House Appropriations — Government Operations Division on Wednesday agreed to carry over unexpended funds and preserve authority for multiple projects in the Adjutant General's budget, while deferring decisions on several proposed general‑fund full‑time positions.

The actions affect projects including the Dickinson Readiness Center, the Communication Bridge Training Site, Camp Grafton facility and land‑acquisition efforts, a proposed tuition and recruitment IT upgrade, cyber security and flood‑mitigation grants, and the state’s military gallery fundraising match. Committee members also agreed to use the Bergam green‑sheet language for one tuition line and to add emergency clause language for certain infrastructure items.

Why it matters: the committee’s carryover approvals preserve authority to finish construction and maintenance projects that the agency says will not be fully paid before the end of the current biennium. Several items involve federal matching rules, grant periods, or ongoing procurement cycles that the adjutant general and staff said require funds to roll into the next biennium to avoid interrupting work.

Mitch Johnson, the Adjutant General, told the committee the Guard’s personnel assigned to southern operations “are doing a great job alleviating a lot of the work Customs and Border Patrol would have to do,” and that the Guard is completing several field projects tied to training readiness. Jennifer Sheath, division chief for fiscal and administrative services, walked members through line‑by‑line carryover requests and amounts remaining on major projects.

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