House Finance Division II adopts technical HB2 fixes, readies budget work sessions

House Finance Division II met in a work session and on a series of mostly technical items adopted four amendments to House Bill 2 and approved a housekeeping item in House Bill 1 while laying out the committee's schedule and priorities for the coming week.

Mr. Landrigan, committee staff, told members the division was facing a possible roughly $200 million reduction to Division 2 spending and said a proposed lottery change could offset about half of that amount if the committee incorporates it into the budget. "We're talking about cutting about $200,000,000 out of Division 2," he said. "...there is a plan to, try to address that."

The committee adopted a set of technical changes intended to remove duplicate or misplaced language from HB2 when identical provisions already are in other bills that have passed the House:

- The committee voted to delete section 81 of HB2 (language on CCSNH dual and concurrent enrollment) because equivalent language appears in separate legislation. The motion was adopted by show of hands and recorded as unanimous.

- The committee voted to delete sections 143 and 144 of HB2 (language on extra-duty functions for police standards and training specialists) because the same provisions are in House Bill 778, which had passed the House; that motion was adopted by show of hands and recorded as unanimous.

- The committee accepted Amendment 0813 to correct an apparent drafting error in section 151 of HB2 (removing a sentence that had been intended for deletion). The motion to adopt Amendment 0813 was approved unanimously by show of hands.

- The committee adopted Amendment 0892H to delete section 178 of HB2 because that language already appears in the back-of-budget sections of House Bill 1; members voted to adopt the amendment by show of hands.

Separately, members voted to approve section 4 of House Bill 1, the lottery commission back-of-budget language, as presented in HB1.

Beyond the specific votes, the meeting focused on scheduling and substantive budget questions that will shape how the committee approaches amendments and funding decisions next week. Mr. Landrigan told members he had circulated tracking documents, a draft of HB2 language the agencies requested, and a back-of-budget index for HB1 and HB2; he said he will update the tracking sheets daily as the committee decides items.

The group discussed video lottery terminal proposals that appear in HB2 and work being done in House Ways and Means. "If House Ways and Means were to retain that bill, ... really all of that work would fall here," Mr. Landrigan said, describing an expectation that the division may need to draft amendments to account for related revenue.

Representative Ruben Papovich raised a policy suggestion for Fish and Game that he said was previously discussed by a revenue committee: require a person to purchase a hunting or trapping license before taking the free safety or training class, with an allowance to retake the class once if they fail the exam. "The idea was that asking for this would increase the number of people that take the training class that actually get the license," Papovich said. Mr. Landrigan and other members agreed Fish and Game should be invited in Monday morning for a fuller discussion before drafting any amendment.

Committee staff reviewed department requests compiled in the tracking sheet. Highlights included several Department of Transportation items (highway program needs, equipment replacement, winter maintenance) and an updated revenue estimate that reduces certain amounts tied to highway apportionments and construction accounts. Mr. Landrigan said the adjustments reflect lower revenue estimates from Ways and Means and that the net is a smaller highway fund balance than the governor proposed; he noted a roughly $15 million shortfall in the highway fund under the current plan.

On education, staff presented a running Education Trust Fund surplus statement and carried items members may need to fund under current law, including payment for Bedford's first-year implementation of full-day kindergarten; staff also noted retained bills involving charter funding, adequacy calculations and dual/concurrent enrollment that will require further deliberation.

Mr. Landrigan told the committee he will attempt to schedule work sessions that satisfy public-notice requirements as soon as possible and asked members to send proposed amendments now so staff and the Office of Legislative Services can prepare drafts. He said the division has reserved much of next week for Division 2 work and suggested members decide which agencies to invite on which days.

The committee set a Monday morning session to hear Fish and Game and discussed scheduling education-focused work sessions later in the week to address adequacy, charter funding and special-education costs. Members also discussed inviting Department of Safety staff to explain proposed fee changes and the structure of the 911 surcharge and radio communications funding before deciding any statutory changes.

The meeting closed after the two-hour session with the committee staff planning to provide an updated tracking packet by Sunday night and to post agency-provided HB2 draft language for members to review ahead of next week.

Votes at a glance

- Delete section 81 of HB2 (CCSNH dual and concurrent enrollment): motion to delete; mover: not specified; second: Representative Murray (second recorded elsewhere); outcome: adopted (show of hands, unanimous).

- Delete sections 143 and 144 of HB2 (police standards extra-duty language): mover: Representative Palovitz; second: not specified; outcome: adopted (show of hands, unanimous).

- Adopt Amendment 0813 (correction to section 151 of HB2): mover: not specified (moved as Amendment 0813H); second: Representative Papad (recorded as Papad Papad in transcript); outcome: adopted (show of hands, unanimous).

- Adopt Amendment 0892H (delete section 178 of HB2; duplicate of HB1 back-of-budget): mover: Representative Popovich; second: Representative Murray; outcome: adopted (show of hands, unanimous).

- Approve section 4 of House Bill 1 (lottery commission back-of-budget language): mover: Representative Harry (recorded as motion by "Harry"); second: Representative Murray; outcome: adopted (show of hands, unanimous).

(Recorded tallies: committee used show-of-hands votes for these items; when the transcript recorded a roll or second, that name is shown. The transcript did not produce a full roll-call vote tally for the items above.)