Senate Appropriations Committee moves 34 measures to suspense file; Finance warns of budget risks

The Senate Committee on Appropriations moved 34 measures to the committee's suspense file at a hearing in Room 20 2 Hundred of The 0 Street Building, after authors waived presentation and the committee limited public testimony to fiscal issues.

Christian Beltran, a representative of the Department of Finance, provided opening remarks on the state's fiscal outlook, telling the committee the department "assesses nearly all bills that have a fiscal impact" and will share those analyses during the second-house process. He warned that while the governor's budget forecast does not reflect a recession, it "recognize[s] several risk factors that could negatively affect the economy and state revenues," including asset-price volatility and federal policy changes that could affect trade, immigration and health care.

The committee adopted its rules for the session without objection and then proceeded through its agenda. For each measure on the calendar the author waived presentation and the committee accepted public testimony on fiscal aspects where provided. After brief public testimony or lack of comment, the chair moved each measure to the suspense file without objection.

Notable testimony

Phil Vermulen, representing the Coalition of Small and Disabled Veteran Businesses, testified in opposition to SB 70. Vermulen said the bill would raise a purchasing threshold that historically allowed small and disabled-veteran businesses to make limited-state purchases. He said the program's threshold began at $50,000, was raised to $100,000 in 2012, and that the bill under consideration would raise it to $350,000. Vermulen said a call-two procurement process is used now and argued the program disproportionately benefits a small group of vendors: "70% of the…