Subcommittee approves Attorney General reappropriations, forwards amended FY26–27 budget to full Ways and Means Committee

The Executive Subcommittee, Ways and Means approved a package of reappropriations and enhancements for the Office of the Attorney General and forwarded the amended FY2026–27 budget to the full committee. The subcommittee recorded the decisions by voice vote at the close of the hearing.

An unidentified subcommittee member moved to adopt reappropriation enhancements that included $10,000,000 for the Safe and Secure firearm detection grant, $102,000 for the Office of Inspector General, and funding for litigation and travel. The mover said the FY2026 funding represented roughly four months of coverage if the budget is passed in March and that FY2027 funding would be full-year support. The motion was seconded by Senator Erickson, per the record, and carried by voice vote.

Members discussed the Safe and Secure program during the motion debate. The program — an AI-based software integration for school security cameras that was let out by RFP last year — has not been activated in K–12 schools, members said, and no audits of implementation were available because the funding had not yet been spent. One member described the program as previously controversial and expressed concern about adding the funding absent audit data.

After passage of the reappropriations, a second motion passed to transmit the amended FY26–27 Attorney General budget from the subcommittee to the full Senate Ways and Means Committee for consideration. The second motion likewise passed by voice vote.

Neither vote was recorded by roll call in the subcommittee record; members responded with a voice “Aye” and the chair declared the motions carried. The committee closed the hearing following the votes.