Joint Budget Committee approves staff plan to backfill DHSEM federal grant-funded staff at $4.1 million and 29.7 FTE

The Joint Budget Committee voted to adopt the staff recommendation to backfill federal grant funding for the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHSEM) at $4.1 million and 29.7 full‑time equivalent positions, a narrower package than the department’s $7.1 million request.

Michelle Curry, Joint Budget Committee staff, told the committee the R1 request sought $7.1 million GF and 48.7 FTE to replace federal grant support that the state could not accept because of grant terms and conditions. Curry said staff’s recommendation funds existing operations reported at the time of the request while excluding positions that were vacant when the request was made: “My recommendation is for $4,100,000 general fund and 29.7 FTE. That would keep the department whole compared to its current operations,” she said.

The recommendation responded in part to federal grant awards whose terms are in litigation and which the attorney general advised the state not to sign, Curry said. She told the committee many of the affected roles are funded fractionally across grants, making FTE tallies complex: “A lot of the FTE are represented as 0.5 or 0.25 in different grants, so in aggregate they add up,” Curry said.

Representative Taggart pressed staff on where the department had found money to hire staff after federal support lapsed; Curry said the governor’s discretionary account was used temporarily and that local pass‑throughs for some grants continued through calendar 2026. Senator Kirkmeyer asked for historical staffing levels and how many FTE were added post‑COVID; Curry said she would request a detailed RFI so the committee could “true up” federal FTE reporting.

After discussion about hires made since the request and whether funding should cover those new fills, a committee member moved the staff recommendation. The motion carried on a recorded vote of 5‑0 with Vice Chair Bridges excused.

Why it matters: the action preserves operational capacity at DHSEM while narrowing the state’s fiscal exposure compared with the department request. Staff will return with supplemental information on the history of federally funded FTE, the committee said.

What’s next: staff will pursue the requested follow‑up information on federal grant FTE and the committee signaled it may revisit related decisions as it continues long‑bill work.