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JFAC approves $1.27 million in dedicated funds for DOPL inspector pay, fleet and IT upgrades
Summary
The committee approved $1,268,900 in dedicated funds for the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses to raise inspector pay, replace vehicles and buy hardware and laptops.
The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted Oct. 26 to add $1,268,900 in dedicated funds to the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL) for fiscal year 2026. The package includes inspector pay increases, vehicle replacements and information-technology hardware.
Kellen McGurkin, a budget analyst with Legislative Services, told the committee DOPL regulates more than 200,000 licensees across 45 boards and commissions and is fully funded through dedicated fees. He summarized three enhancement requests totaling $1,268,900 from dedicated funds.
McGurkin said the first request proposes ongoing dedicated funding to increase pay for inspector positions in the Bureau of Building Construction and Real Estate by an average of $0.95 per hour across 92 FTEs; the division reported high turnover and identified pay as a primary reason. The committee also approved one-time dedicated funding of $900,500 to replace a portion of DOPL’s vehicle fleet; that line-item included allocations the analyst listed for specific vehicle purchases. Finally, the committee approved $146,400 in one-time dedicated funds for Office of Information Technology Services–recommended hardware, including conference-room equipment and 76 standard laptops with docking stations.
The motion, offered by Representative Furness and seconded by Senator Quick, passed on a roll-call vote with a total of 16 ayes and 4 nays. The committee’s action will proceed as a bill with a do-pass recommendation.
The committee also accepted technical language aligning DOPL’s reporting requirements in its appropriation to policy bill 152, adding a quarterly reporting requirement on revenues and expenses for each of the 45 boards and commissions and increasing the fund-balance corrective-action threshold from 25% to 50% per the Legislative Audits Division recommendation. The committee approved that language by unanimous consent and incorporated it into the appropriation measure.
Why it matters: The funding addresses staffing shortages among field inspectors, updates a portion of the agency fleet and modernizes conference and laptop hardware used by DOPL staff and boards.
