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Legislative Finance staff: $1.4B in section 5 appropriations — about 35% spent or encumbered
Summary
Legislative Finance Committee staff reported the quarterly update on nonrecurring appropriations: of $1.4 billion appropriated in section 5, roughly $164M has been expended and $333M encumbered, leaving $897.4M; staff highlighted slow spenddown on multiple large items and flagged reauthorizations and implementation tracking as priorities.
Legislative Finance Committee staff told lawmakers the state has spent or encumbered about 35% of the $1.4 billion in section 5 nonrecurring appropriations made in the 2025 General Appropriation Act and urged closer tracking of implementation as the session approaches.
Emily Hilla and Julissa Rodriguez of LFC presented a packet of quarterly updates and told the committee that, as of the data pull cited in the briefing, agencies collectively had expended $164,000,000 and encumbered $333,000,000 of the section 5 total, leaving a balance of approximately $897,400,000. Hilla said the figure reflects state accounting system data pulled Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The update walked members through notable line items across agencies. Examples cited included $110,000,000 originally appropriated to the Department of Finance and Administration for housing and homelessness investments (later transferred to Workforce Solutions and largely committed to specific projects), multiple IT and cybersecurity reauthorization requests (AOC, DoIT and several agencies), and a portfolio of three‑year GROW requests spanning early childhood wage initiatives, workforce projects and protective services.
Committee members repeatedly asked why several large appropriations show little movement. LFC staff and agency representatives said causes vary: multiyear contracts and staged, rule‑making or federal match requirements delay expenditures; some funds await federal approvals (notably several Indian water‑rights settlement match items); other items are being implemented on schedules that extend across multiple fiscal years. Hilla said last year's comparable nonrecurring package showed faster spenddown (about 61% spent/encumbered at a similar point), while the current package remains slower overall.
Lawmakers singled out several priorities for follow up: expenditures tied to behavioral health (Senate Bill 3 rule‑making was named repeatedly), large infrastructure requests (water, transportation and airport subsidy programs), and several community benefit fund projects such as electric school‑bus pilots and EV charging infrastructure. Committee members asked agencies to provide clearer implementation plans and timelines before the session to aid appropriation decisions.
LFC staff also previewed reauthorization requests: the packet included numerous prior special appropriations agencies sought to reauthorize into FY27; the total original appropriation for those reauth requests was cited as $774,000,000 with roughly $357,000,000 remaining unspent.
Next steps: LFC staff said they will return with recommendations and more granular analyses; the committee scheduled further briefings to vet large reauthorization requests and to press agencies for implementation plans before session votes.
