House Finance hears subcommittee closeouts for DMVA, Labor, DNR, DEED, judiciary, public safety and Fish & Game

After setting Senate Bill 64 aside for amendment work, the House Finance Committee continued with subcommittee closeout reports from multiple agencies.

Department of Military and Veterans Affairs: Bridal Anderson summarized the DMVA closeout. She reported unrestricted general funds of $18,554,400, designated general funds of $1,100, and other funds of $14,812,500, plus federal funds of $36,379,800 for a stated total of $69,747,800; the closeout was about 0.2% above adjusted base and added two permanent positions in the commissioner’s office funded by federal receipts.

Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Caroline Hamp (staff to Representative Schrage) presented a recommended FY27 subcommittee total of $167,174,200 with unrestricted general funds of $23,364,700. The subcommittee adopted the governor’s proposed changes with two member amendments that shifted funding sources: (1) a workers’ compensation increment was funded from timber sale receipts instead of UGF (about $1.1 million) and (2) the Office of Citizenship Assistance moves to STEP funding ($478,900). The subcommittee also deleted two positions in the commissioner’s office.

Department of Natural Resources: Caroline Hamp presented DNR closeout highlights including several fund‑source adjustments, a decision to keep the Division of Agriculture within DNR rather than creating a separate Department of Agriculture, and deletion of four vacant forester positions. The transcript reports a department total that appears garbled; committee staff confirmed subcommittee changes including a $1,956,600 one‑time vehicle rental tax increment for parks management projects and other reallocations. Legislative Finance Division lifelines said overspending a designated vehicle rental tax amount would effectively draw from the general fund.

Department of Education & Early Development: David Jang presented the DEED subcommittee recommendations: $105,018,700 in UGF, $38,364,600 in DGF, $38,416,300 in other funds and $267,354,300 in federal receipts for a quoted total of $449,153,900. The subcommittee restored several governor items and added seven subcommittee items, including Head Start match funding ($3,756,800 UGF) to meet federal non‑federal match requirements and increments for teacher incentive payments and library electronic resources (SLED).

Judiciary and Court‑related items: Keenan Miller summarized small restorations to the judiciary budget (lease and utility increases, paralegal salary increments, funding for an additional court visitor program), and a net increase of $1,085,300 in UGF from the governor’s proposal.

Department of Public Safety: The subcommittee added $1,200,000 in UGF for the Council on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (CDVSA) to help with inflationary pressures, $500,000 for legal services to survivors, and restored victim compensation funding with UGF replacements totaling $592,000.

Department of Fish & Game: Keenan Miller summarized multiple changes including adding $400,000 in UGF for Port Moller test fishery support (with a proposed technical correction to Central Region), moves to replace some CFEC receipt authority with UGF to eliminate projected negative carryforward, and several items to support CFEC IT modernization and staffing.

Committee members asked for clarifications on a number of fund‑source shifts, how oversubscription of the vehicle rental tax would be handled (Legislative Finance said overspending would be funded from the general fund), and whether vacant positions would be eliminated or restored. Several members signaled intent to seek amendments or to restore specific positions for service continuity.

What happens next: The committee will reconvene March 10 to complete remaining subcommittee closeouts and take up House Bill 280.