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Senate accepts H.141 conference report, approves several FY2025 budget adjustments
Summary
The Senate voted to accept the conference committee report for H.141, the fiscal year 2025 budget adjustment, approving negotiated changes to staffing and fund transfers and directing that the chamber’s action be messaged to the House.
The Senate voted to accept the conference committee report on H.141, the fiscal year 2025 budget adjustment, and directed that the chamber’s action be messaged to the House after a brief summary of the changes on March 10, 2025.
Senator from Washington, presenting the conference committee report, said the committee made only a few changes from the version the Senate previously approved and asked members to support the report. "There wasn't a lot of changes from what the Senate voted on," the senator said.
The committee reduced the fiscal-year funding for a position in the attorney general and solicitor general's offices from $50,000 to $27,800 because the position is not expected to start until April. Two new positions in the Human Rights Commission had their first-year cost reduced from $62,000 to $39,700 for the same reason, the presenter said. The conference committee vote on the report was recorded as 5-1-0 in committee.
Lawmakers also negotiated how much to revert from a bond redemption/general fund account in the treasurer's office. The House proposed reverting $14,000,000 and the Senate proposed $20,000,000; the conference committee settled on $16,000,000, which includes $2,000,000 identified for flood grants. The presenter described this as a partial reversion rather than pulling the full $20,000,000 the Senate initially sought.
The report also directs that a previously identified unallocated balance be appropriated into a cash fund for the next fiscal year so that the money is accounted for before the larger appropriations bill is considered; the exact amount of that appropriation was not specified clearly in the transcript. The conference report adjusts language on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to align timing with the federal fiscal year rather than the state fiscal year.
After the presentation, the Senate adopted the conference committee report by voice vote. The presiding officer announced the ayes had it and that the Senate had accepted the report of the committee of conference. The Senate then voted (by suspension of rules and voice vote) to message the chamber's action on H.141 to the House forthwith.
The session concluded with brief scheduling announcements for committee meetings and an adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on March 11, 2025.
