Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the State Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
House committee backs Senate amendments to supplemental budget adding legal and corrections funding
Summary
The House Committee of the Whole recommended concurrence with Senate amendments to the supplemental budget bill, adding millions to the Department of Justice legal services, Department of Corrections public safety, and county jail contract beds, sponsors said.
The House Committee of the Whole on March 12 recommended concurrence with Senate amendments to the supplemental budget bill, House Bill 3, which its sponsor said would add targeted funding for legal services, corrections and county jail contract beds.
Representative Jones, addressing the committee, said the Senate added $3,194,543 to the Legal Services Division of the Department of Justice “at the request of the exec” to cover additional litigation costs. Jones also described additions to the Department of Corrections, saying the Senate added approximately $8,000,000 in general fund support to the department’s public safety division and that about $1,600,000 of that was allocated to fix facility doors he said had failed.
Jones said another portion of the amendments addressed the state’s shortage of prison beds, noting the package included money for county jail and contract beds. “This, as we've heard multiple times in here, the state is extremely short of prison beds,” he said, explaining the supplemental includes funding to contract for out‑of‑state beds while the state pursues longer‑term capacity solutions.
Jones also cited added funding for the Office of Public Instruction, including amounts described as litigation costs and a personal pay shortfall tied to prior staffing decisions by the superintendent. He told members the supplemental is intended to carry agencies through the remainder of the current fiscal year.
There was no extended debate in committee before the sponsor closed. The committee voted to recommend concurrence with Senate amendments to House Bill 3 and the motion moved forward under the Committee of the Whole procedure.
The supplemental described in committee is intended to cover unanticipated obligations that arise after a budget is enacted. Representative Jones characterized the bill as providing funds “to get us to June 30 of this year,” and said some offices were near running out of operating funds without the supplemental.
Action in committee will be reported to the full House as the bill proceeds through second‑reading consideration.
Proponents said the changes were time‑sensitive; no detailed rollcall of the committee motion was provided in the floor transcript excerpt for the committee recommendation.
