Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
JFAC approves program maintenance budgets for state agencies; Health and Human Services reorganization approved with limited dissent
Summary
The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 17 approved program maintenance budgets and standard appropriation language for most state agencies, setting baseline budgets and FTE caps to guide the 2026 budget process.
The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 17 adopted program maintenance budgets and associated standard language or reappropriation authority for most state agencies, including the legislative and judicial branches, statewide elected constitutional officers, public safety agencies, public schools, higher education and the State Board of Education, natural resources, general government functions, and economic development entities.
Most votes were unanimous; committee members said the votes set the baseline for the 2026 budget process and preserved the legislature’s prior policy decisions while allowing staff to carry forward reappropriations and a small set of technical exemptions.
Why it matters: program maintenance budgets set the base spending levels the legislature uses when considering policy changes and enhancements. They typically reflect last year’s ongoing appropriations minus one-time items, plus routine statewide adjustments such as cost allocations and contract inflation where applicable. Approving these maintenance budgets allows the committee to move to the next phase of budget work and to draft appropriation bills for introduction.
Major approvals and key totals (by program area)
- Legislative Branch: The committee set a program maintenance total of $12,546,100 (no FTE cap for the Legislative Branch operations beyond staff flexibility) and approved statutory language to allow certain transfers and ARPA reappropriations as described by staff. Motion by Representative Miller; roll call passed unanimously (20-0).
- Judicial Branch: The program maintenance total approved was $96,696,300, including statewide cost allocation. Motion by Senator Carlson; passed unanimously (20-0). The committee also approved language for judges’ retirement remittances and ARPA reappropriation authority for court technology upgrades.
- Constitutional officers: Maintenance total…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
