Appropriations committee debates Public Service Commission budget increases for rent, inspections and training

Chairman Munson convened the Government Operations section of the House Appropriations committee to review the Public Service Commission (PSC) budget, focusing on three unresolved items: federal intervention funding, increased rent and operating expenses, and $25,000 for staff professional development.

The question before the committee was whether to accept the Armstrong executive budget reductions or to restore amounts from the Burgum executive proposal. Brady, the committee staff, told members the three highlighted items were “the last 3 items that you had visited about,” and summarized that the Armstrong budget reduced a previous Burgum request and that restoring the $62,000 rent/operating difference would still leave the House version below the Burgum level by about $180,000.

Why it matters: the PSC budget supports statewide inspection and regulation work — including weights-and-measures…