Committee approves amendment restoring school-safety funds and adjusts major-maintenance language

Catherine Camarotti of the Legislative Service Office (budget/fiscal) summarized changes to House Bill 105, noting major maintenance funding figures and project-specific adjustments the committee had previously reviewed. She told the committee the house amended the bill to move certain amounts and that a Campbell County transportation facility had its funding reduced to $2.65 million from a larger prior figure.

Delma Comey, director of the State Construction Department, testified she supported the house changes and proposed a technical amendment to how the bill treats the 6% unanticipated contingency. Comey said the draft broke the 6% into separate 6% buckets for design, construction and demolition, which could prevent the department from using the overall contingency pool to cover unpredictable demolition expenses such as abatement. "Traditionally, that's always been 6% for the projects as a whole, so we can draw whatever percentage we need out of that overall funding," Comey said. She identified the specific lines (page 11) where the deletions would be located and asked the committee to consider the textual edits.

Shelby Carlson, School Facilities Division administrator, answered members' questions about project budgeting and estimated that if funding were provided in July, construction for Rendezvous Elementary could begin in 2027 with completion in two to three years. Carlson said the department had worked closely with the district to include required square footage and to inflate costs to anticipated construction timing.

Senator Hruby moved to change the school safety/security line on page 12, line 17, from $5,000,000 back to $10,000,000. After discussion, the committee approved the amendment and then took a roll-call on the engrossed bill as amended; the clerk recorded five ayes and the committee recommended the bill do pass as amended. The transcript does not record additional provisos or implementation directions beyond the technical contingency-language change and the restored school safety funding.