Ways and Means advances substitute for operating budget bill SB 5,998 after votes on 39 amendments

The Senate Ways and Means Committee took executive action Wednesday on the proposed operating budget, Senate Bill 5,998, considering 39 amendments and adopting a substitute that the committee recommended to the Rules Committee.

Staff opened the session by describing Amendment 1 as a "technical packet" of drafting corrections with no fiscal impact, and outlined a long series of amendments that would add, restore, or correct funding across programs including juvenile truancy intervention, public defense, developmental‑disabilities services, long‑term care, childcare, and education. "This is the dreaded technical packet that contains 12 corrections," a staff member said while briefing the committee on the technical amendments.

Throughout the hearing sponsors described the policy goals and fiscal effects of individual amendments. Notable measures included proposals to expand funding for county juvenile‑court truancy interventions (Amendment 2); restore nursing‑home rate add‑ons and other long‑term care funding (Amendments 12–13); and a suite of education and childcare items, including changes to the working‑connections childcare payment threshold that staff said would increase four‑year savings by about $247 million (Amendment 28).

Several amendments were withdrawn by their sponsors before a vote. Where votes were held, the committee used a mix of voice and roll‑call procedures. A contested amendment to fund people on the developmental‑disability waiver waitlist (Amendment 11, offered by Senator Braun) produced extended debate about whether the committee could afford the proposal in the current budget; that amendment failed on a roll call (8 ayes, 15 nays, 1 excused).

Senator Gildan, opposing the substitute at final consideration, framed the package as structurally unsound because it relied heavily on one‑time dollars and projected out‑year assumptions. "From my perspective, this budget is just structurally unsound. It's kind of like a house of cards that's built on a shaky foundation of one‑time money and hope," Gildan said during final debate. Other members, including chairing members who helped craft the operating and capital budgets, urged colleagues to support the substitute as the only pragmatic path forward this session.

The committee approved a rollup substitute and gave substitute Senate Bill 5,998 a due‑pass recommendation to the Rules Committee by voice vote, subject to signatures. The chair then adjourned.

Votes at a glance: the committee adopted multiple amendments (including 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 34, 37, and 39), rejected others (notably Amendment 8 and Amendment 11 after a roll call), and accepted the substitute bill for referral. Where roll‑call results were recorded in the transcript, those tallies appear below in provenance and the actions list.