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Subcommittees fund new park law‑enforcement positions, body and dash cameras; reserve ARPA changes for reservation system
Summary
The joint subcommittees approved new Commission Park law‑enforcement positions, an administrative services officer, and leases for dashboard and body cameras, and they approved a mixed funding approach for the Division of State Parks' reservation system as federal ARPA funding expires.
The subcommittees approved several actions for the Division of State Parks on April 30, including adding sworn commission law enforcement positions, an administrative services officer, acquisition of body‑worn and dashboard cameras for park rangers, and changes to reservation system funding tied to expiring ARPA dollars.
Fiscal staff presented the governor's recommendations and a technical correction to salary grades; the subcommittees approved staggered additions of commission law enforcement staff but modified the governor's request. Chair Taylor moved an alternative that the subcommittee approve one new commission park supervisor and two new commission park ranger positions in fiscal year 2026 and two additional commission park ranger positions in fiscal year 2027 (total nine positions in governor's proposal reduced); the motion carried by voice vote.
The panel also approved a general fund appropriation of $244,154 over the biennium to add one Administrative Services Officer for fiscal and personnel management and approved $308,424 over the 2025–27 biennium to lease dashboard and body‑worn cameras for law enforcement staff. Presenters said the camera request followed an officer‑involved shooting in July 2024 and that cameras would provide incident documentation and transparency; the division will implement device‑use policies.
On the reservation system, the governor recommended eliminating ARPA authority and replacing ongoing vendor contract and position costs with general fund appropriations and reservation fee revenue. The subcommittees approved reductions in ARPA authority totaling $558,617 over the biennium and authorized general fund appropriations of $175,000 per year for the reservation system contract. They also moved the existing management analyst position's funding to reservation system fee revenue where feasible and directed that ongoing funding be requested as an enhancement in the next biennium. The committee additionally requested a letter of intent for a status report to the Interim Finance Committee by July 1, 2026, and directed fiscal staff to analyze the reservation fee self‑sufficiency plan.
Ending: Lawmakers approved the State Parks recommendations with staff authority to make technical adjustments and requested follow‑up reporting to monitor the reservation system’s path to self‑sufficiency.
