House Appropriations Government Operations panel agrees to worksheet changes, adds one mineral‑royalties FTE and related funding

The House Appropriations Government Operations Division on an interim worksheet agreed to carry the committee’s draft into the House version with several amendments, including adding one full‑time position to work on a federal mineral royalties compliance program and approving related operating, IT and security funding. The committee also asked staff to add a vacant‑FTE pool entry across agency budgets.

Committee members said the changes matter because several requested positions and cost‑to‑continue items would otherwise fall out of the base. The group heard an explanation from James Carroll, chief financial officer for the Office of the State Auditor, about a federal mineral royalties position the auditors expect the federal government to reimburse in the second half of the next biennium.

Carroll told the committee the planned mineral‑royalties position is associated with compliance…