Senate committee approves technical fix to HB 25 clarifying community college project authority

Sen. David Waters (District 4) introduced Senate Bill 497 to the Senate Capital Budget Committee as a technical correction to the 2025 capital budget, saying the bill adds the necessary citation so the Community College System of New Hampshire (CCS) has explicit authority over projects approved in the capital budget. The committee approved the bill as amended and moved it to the consent calendar.

The bill fixes an oversight in House Bill 25 (the 2025 capital budget) that left some repurposed appropriations governed by state-agency boilerplate language rather than by the CCS boilerplate. "SB 497 is basically a technical correction to remove the state agency boilerplate language and incorporate by reference the community college system boilerplate language for that project," said Shannon Reed, director of government affairs for the Community College System of New Hampshire, in testimony before the committee.

Reed told the committee that one project, IT infrastructure, was funded partly by a new appropriation and partly by repurposed lapsed capital appropriations. She said CCS continues to report on projects to Administrative Services and to the Capital Projects Overview Committee. Reed also said CCS has a director of capital planning and facilities and board-adopted policies to manage the work, and she assured members the trustees and staff have the capacity to oversee the appropriations.

During consideration, Sen. Carson offered an amendment to change the project language that had targeted work on the 2nd Floor of the annex to instead authorize work on the 4th Floor, explaining the swap was intended to reduce disruption during the 2027 session and to make efficient use of near-complete space on the 4th Floor. Carson described related office relocations and converting a hearing room back to committee use as part of the plan. The amendment text and number were not clearly specified in the transcript; the committee approved the floor-swap amendment by voice vote.

After the amendment passed, the committee voted to pass SB 497 as amended. Members signified approval by voice; the record shows a voice 'aye' but no roll-call tally was provided in the transcript. A member then moved that the bill be placed on the consent calendar, and that motion carried by voice vote. With no further business, the chair closed the meeting.

The bill changes language in the capital budget to attach CCS project governance to the projects repurposed from prior appropriations rather than leaving those projects subject to state-agency procurement and management provisions (referenced in testimony as RSA 21-I). The transcript records a referenced figure of "150,000 and change" for part of an appropriation toward IT infrastructure; the precise dollar amount in the bill language was not read aloud in full during the hearing and is reported here as approximately $150,000 based on the witness's description.

Next steps: The committee advanced SB 497 as amended to the consent calendar for further floor action.