Appropriations panel approves fire marshal and adjutant general budgets after rejecting $4 million emergency backfill

A legislative appropriations subcommittee approved budget recommendations for the State Fire Marshal and the Adjutant General’s Department on a series of voice votes, but rejected a last-minute substitute that would have added $4 million in state funding to compensate for federal emergency-management cuts.

Representative Hoy moved the committee’s recommendation for the State Fire Marshal for fiscal 2026, which passed on a voice vote. For fiscal 2027 the committee approved the SBC recommendation "with the following adjustment, adding back in the $500,000 volunteer fire department grant," a change Representative Delperdink thanked colleagues for supporting: "That's something we've discussed previously...there's several departments out there that will appreciate that." The chair recorded both votes as approved by voice vote.

The panel then considered the Adjutant General’s budget. The chair moved the SBC recommendation for FY2026, including a reappropriation of $2,568,860; that motion passed on a voice vote after staff clarified that part of the reappropriation reflected split KDIM operations presented in agency testimony.

During debate on the Adjutant General’s FY2027 recommendation Representative Hoye moved a substitute to add $4,000,000 SGF "to make up for the federal cuts that we did not receive that everyone already was counting on," arguing the state should backfill funding for local emergency management ahead of an approaching winter storm. Representative Carr seconded the substitute. The motion was debated and then defeated on a voice vote: "All in favor of Representative Hoye's motion, say aye" followed by "Aye," and after calling for opposition the chair announced "the noes have it."

The committee returned to the original recommendation for FY2027 for the Adjutant General’s office and approved it on a subsequent voice vote.

The committee then opened and recessed the budget hearing for the Board of Indigent Defense Services.

What happens next: the subcommittee’s recommendations will be incorporated into the bill the committee considers; formal roll-call tallies were not recorded in the hearing transcript and outcomes were taken by voice vote.