Commerce seeks funding for five positions and plans to rely on revolving accounts if needed

Department of Commerce officials told the House Committee on Ways and Means that their FY 2026 submittal asks the legislature to fund five positions currently financed from the department's revolving accounts and outlined account balances and staffing gaps.

"Your continued support empowers the Department of Commerce to safeguard consumers and foster a resilient, transparent, and growth oriented business environment across the Commonwealth," the secretary said in an opening statement. The department requested general-fund appropriations for five positions now financed through revolving accounts: a banking administrator, an insurance administrator (recently filled), and three ABTC (Alcohol, Beverage and Tobacco Control) enforcement Officer I positions.

Why it matters: the department uses several revolving funds — registrar, ABTC, workers' compensation and an insurance revolving account — to pay operations and some salaries. Committee members pressed officials for up-to-date balances and the status of hiring for vacant positions.

Officials gave these figures during questioning: the registrar's revolving account balance was reported as $2.7 million; ABTC's balance was reported at about $318,000; the workers' compensation special fund balance of roughly $1.5 million was characterized as largely from private-insurance collections; and an insurance revolving balance was said to hold about $45,000. Department staff said the registrar's office accrues roughly $429,000 annually to its revolving account after the standard 25% deposit to finance.

Staffing and vacancies: testimony described persistent difficulty filling two central statistics positions (GIS specialist and statistical specialist) for more than a year. The department said it had reclassified roles and repeatedly posted them but had not found qualified candidates; the statistics division said it is proceeding with open-until-filled recruitment. ABTC enforcement vacancies were characterized as more recent — roughly three to four months.

Services and programs: committee members questioned the department about multiple federal grants and contracts it administers, including STEP (Small Business Trade Export Program), prevailing wage studies, the labor force survey (near report publication), and an FDA contract that reimburses ABTC officers for inspection hours. The department said the STEP program is about $100,000 annually and that the labor force survey work would be published within a month.

Utilities and operations: officials said the department uses revolving accounts to pay utilities and that the department's annual utilities run roughly $50,000.

Committee follow-up: lawmakers asked OMB and the department to confirm exact balances and fringe-cost calculations for positions the administration routed through special funds. Members also urged the department to prioritize using in-house staff for training and professional services where possible and to coordinate more closely with SEDA, SBDC and other investment partners.

Ending: the committee thanked the department for the presentation and agreed to follow up in budget drafting, including clarifying the 10% threshold for use of revolving funds and the fund-source for requested FTEs.