Conference report for House Bill 16-79 directs election-administrator fees to special fund with residual to general fund

Representative Westco told the Rules Committee that the conference committee report for House Bill 16-79 redirects fees previously collected for the election administrators fund into a designated special fund rather than the general fund, and provides that any remaining balance at the end of the period would revert to the general fund.

Westco said the change responds to amendments in Senate appropriations that would otherwise have diverted those fees into the general fund and created a need to follow up with a separate appropriation in the budget. The conference committee report instead directs the fees “to a very particular fund,” with technical corrections and conflict resolutions included in the report.

A committee member asked why no House Democrat had signed the conference report; Westco replied there were some initial objections when the bill left the House and a few no votes, but she said the concerns were not related to the new language in the conference committee report.

Representative Slager moved the procedural suspension of House Rule 153.1 to allow the conference committee report for House Bill 16-79 to be considered after April 15, 2025. The motion carried on roll call (transcript records the vote as “Passes 72”).

The conference committee report preserves fee directional policy and addresses technical conflicts; the committee’s procedural action permits further floor consideration but does not itself change how the fees are collected until enacted by the full legislature.