Committee restores two FY2027 positions for State Bank Commissioner to oversee earned wage access

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Budget Committee voted to reinstate two full-time positions and the associated funding in the Office of the State Bank Commissioner’s FY2027 budget to support oversight of earned wage access (EWA) providers. The committee approved the agency’s FY2026 budget as recommended by the special committee and approved FY2027 as amended.

Committee members pressed agency staff for details on the EWA program before the vote. Jesse Becker, director for finance and administration for the Office of the State Bank Commissioner, said the EWA program (enacted by the Legislature in 2024) allows employees to access wages they have already earned through third-party providers; the agency now supervises roughly 26 active providers and was reviewing six more. Becker told the committee the office had anticipated needing one employee to oversee the program but the higher workload prompted a request for an additional FTE.

Legislative staff reviewed the special committee’s adjustments and confirmed that the special committee on state budget had deleted $157,000 and two FTEs from the agency’s request; restoring those items required a specific motion by the committee. Representative Curtis moved to reinstate the two positions for FY2027; Representative Roth seconded. The committee voted to carry the amendment, and later approved the State Bank Commissioner budget for FY2026 as presented and FY2027 as amended.

Committee members checked that the bank commissioner is a fee-funded agency and that the enhancement would not draw on State General Fund dollars. Agency staff and committee fiscal analysts said the division that oversees consumer and mortgage lending has fee revenue available and aims to maintain a 90-day reserve by policy. The agency also described a $200,000-per-year consumer education settlement fee fund used for grants and outreach on fraud and scams.

The committee did not provide a roll-call tally in the transcript; the chair recorded the motions as carried. The vote restores the agency’s ability to hire the additional staff for EWA oversight and leaves other line items, including vehicle and capital-outlay requests, in the budget as discussed.

The committee will include the committee’s action in its budget-report language and the agency’s FY2027 budget files.