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Committee backs constitutional amendment to require legislature to appropriate certain settlement and judgment funds
Summary
The committee approved House Resolution 29, a proposed constitutional amendment directing the General Assembly to appropriate certain legal judgments and settlements that come to the state starting in 2027; members clarified that disaster and emergency federal funds are not intended to be affected.
Representative Kemp presented House Resolution 29 to the House Appropriations Committee, describing it as a proposed constitutional amendment that would require the General Assembly to appropriate monies from certain legal judgments and settlements that the state receives. "This measure clarifies this," Kemp said, explaining the amendment’s purpose after an earlier local broadband funding issue prompted the filing.
Kemp said the proposed amendment specifies that the General Assembly shall appropriate monies and funds derived from any legal judgments awarded to the state on or after July 1, 2027, and any legal settlements entered into by or on behalf of the state on or after Jan. 1, 2027. The substitute adopted in committee sets a threshold: amounts in excess of $10,000,000 would be continually appropriated by the General Assembly, he said.
Committee members asked whether the proposal would interfere with emergency and disaster funding flows (for example, federal funds distributed after disasters). Kemp and other members clarified that funds tied to declared emergencies are governed by existing formulas or statutory procedures and are not intended to be delayed by this amendment. Committee members also discussed that the proposal was prompted by local broadband allocations and that members feel the legislature should have the authority to appropriate unexpected state receipts.
After a period of questions and clarification, the committee voted by voice to pass the resolution as presented. A committee member moved the substitute (LC560340S); after members said “aye,” the chair declared the motion carried.
The resolution would place a constitutional amendment before voters or otherwise proceed according to the constitutional amendment process; it does not itself change the constitution without subsequent steps required by law. Committee members noted the proposal is intended to give the General Assembly oversight of unanticipated, significant state receipts from judgments and settlements rather than departmental discretionary distribution.
