House advances plan to use rainy‑day fund interest for DPS and corrections retention; members debate fiscal risk

The Arizona House on March 5 recommended HB 40‑44 as amended after floor and committee discussion about directing some annual interest from the state’s rainy‑day fund to public‑safety retention for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and corrections officers.

Representative Winegar (floor sponsor for the amendment) said the change would not reduce the fund’s principal and that interest could create an ongoing source of support for bonuses or retention efforts. On the floor the rainy‑day corpus was cited as approximately $1.7 billion; the sponsor said the first $10 million of interest would remain in the fund and that the measure is structured to use interest rather than the principal.

Opponents warned that tying ongoing personnel costs to a volatile source — interest, and earlier proposals to use seized digital assets — could create budgeting instability. Representative Gutierrez and others argued the state’s reserves (and how they would be used) required greater caution; Representative Sandoval said state agencies such as DPS and the treasurer’s office had not necessarily signed off on the financing approach as presented.

Supporters countered that DPS and corrections officers back the bill and that the amendment removed prior language (for example, anti‑racketeering revenue sources) that raised concerns in committee. The committee of the whole adopted the committee and floor amendments and reported HB 40‑44 as amended with a do‑pass recommendation.

What to watch: The measure will move to the Senate. Reported funding numbers and the plan to use interest, not corpus, are central facts to verify as the bill moves through the process.

Provenance: Floor discussion and amendment adoption are recorded in transcript segments from SEG 1820 through SEG 2036.