Governor's executive budget proposes $151 million in agency enhancements, boosts education, transportation and wildfire funding

Lori Wolfe, administrator of the Division of Financial Management, told the Joint Finance and Appropriation Committee on Jan. 8 that the governor’s executive budget for fiscal 2026 is structurally balanced and emphasizes education, workforce training, transportation, natural‑resource resilience and cybersecurity.

Wolfe said the proposal uses a conservative revenue forecast and leaves healthy ending balances while recommending $151 million in recommended agency enhancements and transfers to reserve accounts. She gave a line‑by‑line summary of projected revenues, transfers and expenditures and highlighted budget items she described as the governor’s priorities.

The budget summary presented to JFAC shows a FY25 revenue projection of about $5.9 billion and a FY26 projection of about $6.2 billion; Wolfe said the committee’s FY25 projected ending balance is roughly $383 million and the FY26 projected ending balance $227 million after recommended transfers. The proposal would transfer $59 million to the budget stabilization (rainy day) fund and $50 million to the public education stabilization fund in FY26; Wolfe noted the state’s reserve totals would leave the revert reserve at about $1.4 billion, or roughly 22% of the budget.

Wolfe outlined the administration’s maintenance and enhancement structure: maintenance items include employee compensation and benefits, contract inflationary adjustments, SWCAP and other baseline costs; the…