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Legislative branch presents FY2027 request, flags personnel and internal-service cost pressures
Summary
Joint Fiscal Office finance manager Scott Moore presented the legislative branch FY2027 spending plan, noting budget guidance to hold about a 3% increase, but flagged pay‑act, health‑care and internal service fund changes that drive most of the year‑over‑year growth and described reversion work and a small seasonal staff request.
Scott Moore, legislative finance manager for the Joint Fiscal Office, briefed the Appropriations Committee on Feb. 13 on the legislative branch FY2027 budget request and line‑by‑line materials posted to the committee website. "I have prepared this presentation," Moore said, and walked members through budget instructions, the 3% guidance figure, and how pay‑act and health‑care estimates feed into the requested totals.
Moore explained the legislative branch totals include the General Assembly (members and clerks), legislative IT, legislative council, JFO, HR and other units. He said the governor’s budget guidance and revised internal service fund calculations produced differing percentage changes across departments: the legislature showed a net decline while the legislative council and the JFO showed substantial increases driven by personnel and service‑fee adjustments.
Why it matters: roughly 80% of the branch increase stems from personnel costs, Moore said, so policy choices about pay‑act and benefits are the principal drivers of the branch request.
Details Moore walked through year‑over‑year comparisons and noted an unusual $1.5 million end‑of‑session addition to the FY2026 base that complicates simple percent comparisons. He also described reversion work the JLMC is performing to identify older one‑time appropriations for potential return to the general fund.
Staffing requests and operations Moore described a modest staffing ask — a part‑time, unbenefited seasonal position to help with peak tour and visitor season (estimated at about $25,000) — and said the bulk of increases are embedded in salary and health‑care line items and internal service fund adjustments.
Next steps Moore offered to return with more details and told members the full line‑by‑line requests are available online; JLMC motions to reallocate funds have already altered some percentages and staff will report back on the internal‑service recalculations.
