Senators press officials over missing $16.3 million for Simon Sanchez High School financing

Senators at a budget oversight hearing pressed administration officials on whether funds for the Simon Sanchez High School project have been properly appropriated and whether the government has sufficient authority to proceed with financing.

The questioning centered on a $16,300,000 appropriation that senators said should appear in recent budget documents. "The way the law is written... it allows basically the administration to solicit for financing for the construction, furniture and fixture and equipment, and for the insurance maintenance of the construction at the Simon Sanchez High School... for a total amount of a $166,365,000," said Mister Carlson, describing the statute that authorized the project. "I never said we can't move forward without it," Mister Carlson added, saying the project has authority to go to the market but that construction costs have risen.

Mister Guerrero told the panel that the government has an existing authorization to borrow for the project but that the budget does not include the specific cash appropriation senators have requested. "To my recollection... the only appropriation or allocation we did for the Sang Ming census is to allocate $500,000 for that project," Guerrero said when asked directly about the larger appropriation figure. Guerrero and Carlson both said the governor’s transfer authority could be used in some circumstances but that the statutory language is not dollar-specific and that legislative appropriation would clarify the scope.

Senators pressed officials on timing and out-year obligations. Carlson said the authorization provides a construction net in the $132 million range after allowances for furniture, fixtures and equipment and arts contributions, and said he had requested that the legislature include a cash appropriation to mitigate rising capitalized interest and higher construction costs. "If we could mitigate that capitalized interest by getting the appropriation, then we have more money for construction," Carlson said.

Officials told senators they could go to market using the existing authorization but that without a legislative cash appropriation, the project would be limited to the previously authorized amount. When asked whether leaseback or debt-service payments would begin in fiscal 2026, officials said payments would begin once the government incurred the obligation and that the earliest mandated start would be fiscal 2027.

The discussion also explored practical impacts: whether delays in appropriations would raise lifecycle costs through capitalized interest, and whether the governor’s transfer authority provides sufficient certainty for contractors and the Department of Education. Carlson said the RFP for the project did not hit the street until March or April after the executive budget request was filed in January, and that is why the appropriation request did not appear in the EBR. "The passage of time requires, if the body so desires, to provide the funding to mitigate the rise in construction costs," he said.

Senators said stakeholders — students, families and DOE officials — have been told the project is ready to proceed and expressed frustration that the funding status remains unresolved. Officials pledged to provide written estimates showing how a legislative appropriation would reduce capitalized interest and increase construction funding.

No formal appropriation or vote was taken during the hearing. The senators said they will continue to press for clarity on whether the legislature must appropriate the $16.3 million to ensure mitigation of rising costs, or whether the administration can use transfer authority and existing authorizations without legislative action.