Senate Government Ops adopts amendment to House Bill 1591; sends bill forward

Senate Appropriations — Government Operations Division Chair opened the session and, after brief preliminary remarks, the panel considered amendment 3001 to House Bill 1591. Senators moved and seconded the amendment and then voted by roll call.

The amendment reduced a proposed appropriation from $3,000,000 to $1,500,000 and added language to require grant matching from non-state sources, allowing matching in cash or in-kind and setting parameters that guidelines may provide for matching funds at between $1 and $2 of grant money received for $1 of prior or local contribution.

Senator Sickler moved the amendment and Senator Eberly seconded. On roll call the amendment was adopted with recorded “aye” votes by Senators Sickler, Herberly, Burkhart, Wanczyk and others present. Following that vote, Senator Eberly moved a do-pass as amended motion, seconded by Senator Sickler. The committee took a roll-call on the do-pass-as-amended motion and recorded the bill as passed out of the Government Ops division to the full committee.

Committee members discussed the proposed matching language and asked whether “up to $2” meant an exact discrete choice (1:1 or 1:2) or a sliding scale; the resident attorney advised that the text as written permitted any ratio between 1 and 2 but that the commissioner and committee had expressed intent around a 1:1 or 1:2 match. Members also pressed whether in-kind contributions (labor, for example) could inflate matching claims; committee members said they expected department guidelines to define valuation and guard against abuse.

The committee clerk called the roll for the amendment and for the subsequent do-pass-as-amended motion; votes were recorded and the amended bill was carried to the next stage.