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Parks staff outline bills to watch and prepare for upcoming budgets
Summary
Agency legislative staff briefed the commission on session cutoffs, bills affecting parks (ski-lift safety language, snowmobile registration fee bills), and capital and operating budget timing; staff urged vigilance on new obligations and identified capital investments as a priority area.
Brian Considine, director of external and legislative relations, delivered an overview of the 2026 legislative session and the agency's tracking priorities.
Considine summarized upcoming deadlines (policy cutoff, fiscal cutoff, floor cutoff) and said the agency is tracking approximately 175 bills and has 22 fiscal-note assignments so far. He reported that the agency's request bills on ski-lift terminology had advanced out of committee and into rule stages and that the snowmobile registration fee bills (Senate Bill 5234 and House Bill 2139) had hearings with mixed testimony.
He said the agency's central message to lawmakers is largely protective: the agency is not asking for broad new obligations it cannot fund, and the capital budget remains a top priority because capital investments are the primary way to address visitor expectations and deferred maintenance.
Considine flagged several cross-cutting bills the agency is monitoring, including proposals on tribal consultation/codification of executive orders, a tourism-assessment bill (a proposed business assessment to fund tourism programs), interest arbitration measures, and e-bike/e-motor classifications that could affect land-access rules. He urged commissioners to stay engaged with outreach to the governor's office and legislative delegation where appropriate.
On budget timing, staff said the state revenue forecast was expected mid-February and that the agency will watch how operating and capital leaders in the House and Senate allocate funds. Capital requests and supplemental funding items remain a focus for the agency's advocacy work.
