Senate adopts committee of conference report on H 839, adds syringe funding and housing allocations

The Senate accepted and adopted the committee of conference report on H 839 on a voice vote, approving modest changes to the fiscal-year-2024 budget including new targeted funding for public health and housing programs.

Speaker 3, presenting the committee of conference report, said the document largely mirrors the bill previously passed by the chamber but contains limited spending differences. "There is 218,000 that would provide that benefit through the end of the fiscal year," Speaker 3 said, referring to added funding for the syringe program after information from the Department of Health showed initial funding would not be sufficient.

The committee also adjusted adult basic education funding, increasing the Senate's original $175,000 appropriation by $205,000 to a total of $380,000 to narrow the difference with the other body’s $500,000 figure. Speaker 3 described a reworking of a $4,000,000 emergency-housing line into targeted allocations: $1,300,000 for emergency shelters, $2,000,000 for the entity named on the record as BHCB, $2,000,000 for permanent shelters, and $671,000 for transitional housing serving refugees.

On flood relief, Speaker 3 said the committee specified a methodology to allocate $12,500,000 to municipalities. The senator described an illustrative municipal-state split that typically trends toward 90:10 state-local and said the extra ERF funding could reduce a municipal share that had been about 5% to an estimated 2–3%, noting municipalities may choose how to apply funds.

The report also gives the designated housing agency flexibility to repurpose about $10,000,000 originally earmarked for mobile homes when actual spend projections indicated the full amount would not be used for that purpose. The conference report creates two positions funded from the cannabis regulation fund and removes a statutory requirement that the executive director be an attorney, widening the pool of eligible candidates. The report further clarifies discrimination language by listing protected classes rather than cross-referencing 'public accommodations,' a change Speaker 3 said was recommended by legislative counsel.

The presiding officer put the question on adopting the committee of conference report; by voice vote the chair announced the ayes had it and the report was adopted. The Senate then voted to suspend its rules to message the action on H 839 to the House forthwith. After announcements and committee scheduling, the chamber voted to adjourn until Thursday, February 29 at 1 p.m.

Votes at a glance: The record shows the Senate approved suspension of the rules to take up H 839 (voice vote), adopted the committee of conference report on H 839 (voice vote), agreed to suspend rules to message the bill to the House (voice vote), and approved a motion to adjourn until Feb. 29 at 1 p.m. (voice vote). Exact roll-call tallies were not recorded on the transcript.