Controller asks legislature to bring LUMA on-budget; warns cutting staff would imperil operations

Frances Lippitt briefed the committee that the State Controller’s office has supported the statewide LUMA enterprise resource management system from a continuously appropriated Business Information Infrastructure Fund (BIF) since implementation began; the continuous appropriation expires June 30 of the current fiscal year and the office requested funding to "bring LUMA on budget."

Brandon Wolf, State Controller, told the committee the office has 47 employees working on LUMA. The controller said the FY2026 request includes personnel and operating costs to transition roles funded from the BIF into the controller’s appropriation: the request seeks seven additional FTE and about $2,159,900 in personnel costs as one component (the office said bringing existing funded but unfunded positions onto the budget would result in appropriation for about 20 positions total), another component is $800,000 for LUMA infrastructure in the computer service center, and the office also requested two financial specialists to provide shared services to smaller agencies. Lippitt said the total general-fund cost to bring LUMA on budget is roughly $9.856 million; the office also requested about $5.5 million in dedicated fund appropriation for the computer service center.

Why it matters: Controller Wolf said the BIF funded important implementation work but will end this June; without the requested appropriations the controller warned the office would have to reduce staff and "we would almost cut the LUMA team in half," which he said would threaten timely payroll and payments and risk bringing state financial operations to a near-standstill.

Wolf said the system is operational and that other states that started similar projects have struggled longer. He and committee members described continuing implementation pains: delayed closings of the state’s books (Wolf said the office was about eight weeks late on a close at the time of the hearing) and agency requests for additional local staff to manage the transition. The controller characterized the situation as "dust settling" and emphasized change management, training and documentation as priorities going forward.

Lawmakers asked whether bringing LUMA on-budget will reduce agencies’ need for temporary staff; Wolf said the objective is to stabilize operations and, over time, reduce reliance on extra hires by centralizing support and training. Several legislators requested lessons-learned material about the LUMA implementation that could inform future IT projects; Wolf said the office would share a list of lessons learned and implementation advice.

Ending: the controller finished by emphasizing transparency, accountability and a request for continued legislative trust as the office moves LUMA into the regular budget and continues post-implementation work. If the legislature does not fund the request, the controller warned of substantial operational impacts to payroll and statewide financial processing.