Conference committee agrees to fund retirement-backed policy post, debates restoring mediator and ethics attorney positions

The conference committee reconciling the house and senate budgets said it would add funding for a policy and research manager paid from retirement-related sources, and discussed restoring two positions the senate had cut: a mediator at the State Labor Relations Board and a staff attorney/staff investigator for the Ethics Commission.

The chair said the proposed policy and research manager would not be paid from the general fund and that all three retirement boards support the position, making it palatable for the panel to add the role back into the budget. "We are willing to agree to adding funds for a policy and the research manager," the chair said.

Committee members argued the mediator position would help municipalities that previously relied on federal mediators and that municipalities can face hourly attorney costs that are prohibitively expensive in labor impasses. The chair added the Ethics Commission has been underfunded and asked whether the state would "have an ethics commission or not," arguing that minimal staffing is necessary to carry out municipal and legislative requests.

Members discussed estimated costs for the two positions and asked for more information: committee staff summarized the two packages as costing roughly about $150,000 and $130,000 between them, which members described as approximate figures that need confirmation. Several members said the house and senate had limited testimony on the language and asked for time to gather more detail before finalizing the additions.

The committee agreed to retain the retirement-funded position and to continue work on the mediator and ethics-staff language, directing staff to supply clearer cost and scope information before votes on final language.