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Board of Animal Health warns budget strain as H5N1 responses stretch staffing
Summary
Board staff said concurrent responses to multiple outbreaks and retroactive on-call pay are straining the agencybudget; staff hires were announced but officials asked the board to support an operating adjustment and outreach to legislators.
Board leadership reported that the agencyis operating under tight finances as high-priority responses to H5N1 in poultry and dairy, along with other emerging disease work, stretch existing staff and resources. Brian and budget lead Alyssa outlined that most of the state's general appropriation is used for salaries and that recent cost-of-living adjustments and retroactive on-call pay have eroded available operating funds.
The board said it requested roughly $500,000 in an operating adjustment to cover salary and testing cost increases and that most of the departmentgeneral appropriation (about $6.1 million) is already allocated to pay. Staff emphasized the need to coordinate with legislators during the upcoming session to seek additional resources and noted that USDA emergency funding covering some dairy-response costs does not replace the need for ongoing staff capacity.The board also announced a few hires: a new board attorney (Andrew Blatch) has started and a companion-animal field veterinarian has accepted an offer and is expected to start in January.
