Committee approves changing solid-waste expenditure authority to local managers; bill amended and passed out of committee

The Senate Fiscal Affairs Committee voted April 9 to pass Senate Bill 24-32, which establishes a Solid Waste Management Revolving Fund and reallocates expenditure authority for those funds to local management for each municipality.

Nut graf: The bill aims to keep revenues from local solid-waste operations working at the municipal level for operations and maintenance instead of routing all control through central finance. Committee members amended the draft to clarify administration and to name the resident department head of the Department of Public Works on each island — rather than directly naming mayors — as the local expenditure authority in the bill’s SD1.

During markup, Senator Manglona moved to adopt the bill and Senator Cavill offered a package of technical amendments. Cavill’s amendments replaced references to the “secretary of department of finance” with “special assistance of the office of management and budget,” specified timing for monthly accounting on the first business day of each month, and substituted the DPW resident department head as the manager of the subaccounts. The committee adopted the amendment by voice vote and then adopted SB24-32 (SD1) and passed it out of committee for full Senate consideration.

The committee directed staff to prepare the SD1 text for a floor session and to coordinate with finance and DPW on procedures for subaccounts and reporting. The committee did not provide dollar amounts in the draft; expenditures remain subject to appropriation and local procedures specified in the SD1.

Ending: SB24-32 (SD1) passed committee with technical edits; staff will finalize the language and forward the bill for floor action.