Committee advances attorney general operating budget and consumer-protection provisions after debate on litigation funds and staffing

Senator Jeong presented Senate File 3044 on April 1, a package containing the Attorney General's operating budget requests for fiscal years 2026–27 and related consumer-protection provisions. The chief deputy attorney general, John Keller, testified that the office provides legal representation for more than 100 state agencies and asked for a mix of one-time and ongoing investments to restore capacity lost over decades.

Keller summarized the request: a one-time package of roughly $940,000 for office renovation, server-room upgrades, and a website refresh, plus an ongoing general-fund increase of about $7.9 million per year to cover operating costs, salary parity, and new attorney and support FTEs. He also said the office was seeking nine additional staff for the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit; the federal government would pay 75% of those costs. On staffing for post-conviction review and expungement work, he requested four FTEs, and he sought additional FTEs for antitrust work and e-discovery.

Committee members pressed on fiscal details. Senator Drazkowski asked whether a fiscal note was available; staff indicated no fiscal note had been finalized but relayed an MMB estimate that net general-fund costs would be about $16.7 million in the first biennium and $15.8 million in the following biennium. Several members asked about provisions in the bill that would allow the Attorney General's office to retain portions of recoveries to create or replenish litigation or consumer restitution funds. Laura Sales, director of government relations for the AG's office, said the litigation fund would be capped (the package language set a cap of $2 million in one account) and that the consumer restitution fund language had been amended in related legislation to also include a $1 million cap; she said the bill's language had not been updated to reflect that late change.

Keller and Sales defended the office's record of recoveries and consumer returns: Keller said the office had contributed more than $2.1 billion to state and household coffers over several years and noted multistate settlements, opioid and tobacco recoveries, and debt-relief work for consumers.

The nut graf: The committee advanced SF 3044 after detailed budget testimony and questions about limits on litigation funds, federal matches for proposed Medicaid-fraud staff, and the office’s capacity to handle expungements, antitrust and litigation-support needs. Members signaled they wanted further fiscal detail; staff and the AG’s office said they would provide follow-up information.

The committee voted, voice-style, to recommend the bill to pass and re-refer it to the Judiciary Committee. No roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript; the chair announced the bill was "on its way to judiciary."