Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Appropriations topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate institutions panel signals support for reallocation of Newport prison funds
Summary
The Senate Institutions Committee took an informal straw poll backing staff’s bookkeeping change to consolidate cash lines and move $500,000 out of bonded accounts tied to the Newport prison; staff said revised appropriations language will be circulated for insertion into the bill.
The Senate Institutions Committee informally signaled support for a staff proposal to reallocate funds tied to the Newport prison, taking a straw poll on changes that would consolidate cash lines and alter bonded entries in the appropriations bill.
Scott, a committee staff member, described the adjustment as a bookkeeping change meant to consolidate and reassign existing entries. “So what we're doing here is the the cash from 1946 and 47 you're going to take out. You're going to then put that cash under the Newport prison in one lump sum instead of two,” Scott said. He added that the committee would “take the $500,000 that's currently on Newport that is in bonded, pull it out and drop the 250 to $250,000 lines to 46 and 47,” characterizing the change as switching items from one column to another.
Committee members then took an informal hand vote on the wording and attachments discussed in the prior 15 minutes. The chair asked for a show of hands “of the changes that we have done in the last 15 minutes,” and reported, “Okay. So it's five,” indicating five members raised their hands in favor.
A separate staff member said they had messaged a colleague named John, who replied that he would circulate revised bill language. “He will circulate a revised language set of language for us and we'll make sure that language goes into the appropriations bill,” the staff member said.
Scott said staff will prepare a spreadsheet after the joint conference that lays out the bond-section changes and any other edits so the amendments can be incorporated into the appropriations bill.
The committee did not record a formal roll-call motion or a binding vote in the transcript; the hand vote taken was an informal straw poll used to gauge support while staff refine bill language. The committee then adjourned to a joint meeting with the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee for a scheduled update on an enterprise resource planning project before returning to continue capital bill and stormwater utilities work.
