Higher Ed Budget Committee amends state library recommendations, restores funds to FY2025 and trims FY2026 base payment

The Committee on Higher Education Budget considered the State Library’s budget recommendations and took several amendments before approving FY2025 and FY2026 budget recommendations for referral to the House Appropriations Committee.

Representative Haskins offered an amendment to return previously reappropriated funds of $150,272 to the State Library’s FY2025 budget, saying the vendor had already been paid and that removing the reappropriation would harm the agency. "This is something that had already been approved and reappropriate. The vendor has already been paid and that money if we don't return it comes out of their general fund and that will just ultimately hurt the agency," Haskins said. The committee voted on that amendment by voice/hand raising; the amendment passed 4 to 3.

Following the Haskins amendment, the committee approved FY2025 as amended. The chair called the vote: "All those in favor of 2025 as amended signify by raising your right hand. All those opposed?" The action was recorded as passing 5 to 2.

On the FY2026 recommendation, Representative Wagner offered an amendment to delete $486,000 in State General Fund and to remove proviso language providing a base amount of $1,000 to each eligible library and the base amount for each regional library in fiscal year 2026. Wagner argued the committee should hold the line on spending and that per-capita payments and shared subscriptions achieve efficiencies, but removing the $1,000 base payment would reduce overall SGF spend. "So, basically now 2 things I will say...the per capita amount would remain at 0.30...It's just that the $1,000 base amount for each library is what would be coming out and would, reduce the overall state general fund spend," Wagner said. Representative Potter seconded the amendment. The Wagner amendment passed 4 to 3.

After adopting the Wagner amendment, the committee approved the FY2026 recommendation as amended. The transcript records that the amendment passed by hand-raise and that the final approval occurred after the amendment was adopted; the transcript contains inconsistent numerical counts when the chair announced the final tally for the FY2026 approval and does not provide a clear, consistent roll-call or hand-count in the record. The committee chair later acknowledged confusion about the verbal tally during the vote.

Committee members discussed the value of state-negotiated database subscriptions, per-capita payments and the tradeoffs of trimming base payments versus holding the line at FY2025 levels. Representative Wagner noted testimony that individual library subscriptions purchased separately could cost libraries "in the tens of 1,000,000[s] of dollars" and argued for state-level efficiency; others urged fiscal restraint.

The committee’s actions were procedural budget recommendations to the House Appropriations Committee; no permanent policy changes were enacted by the committee itself.