Senate advances legislative budget (FEED bill) after Committee of the Whole review

The Senate considered Senate File 2, the biennial legislative budget commonly called the FEED bill, in Committee of the Whole and adopted the committee report favorably on Feb. 10.

Majority and minority leaders walked senators through the bill's major components. The clerk read "above the line" items including Legislative Service Office staff salaries, per diem, out‑of‑state travel, dues for national legislative organizations, registration fees and telecommunications; the total for above‑the‑line items was stated as $26,118,778. The presentation also described below‑the‑line items, including carry‑forward authority, training reimbursements and special items such as $492,000 for economic modeling software intended for county‑level rule impact analysis.

Senators asked a range of questions about specific line items and membership dues for national organizations. Majority floor leader and management council members explained that membership decisions are authorized by statute through management council authority and that the management council had reviewed and approved membership choices during the interim. The floor discussion included an explanation of increases and decreases from the prior biennium, and the sponsor summarized net changes (above‑the‑line increases and below‑the‑line decreases) and the primary drivers of those changes.

The Committee of the Whole adopted the motion that SF2 do pass; the committee reported SF2 do pass and the Senate later adopted the Committee of the Whole report. The bill will continue through the legislative process for remaining readings and, if enacted, will set legislative branch appropriation levels for the coming biennium.