Senate Appropriations panel adopts amendment, then unanimously passes SB35 and puts it on consent calendar

The Senate Committee on Appropriations on March 16 adopted amendment J1 to Senate Bill 35 on a 4–3 vote and then approved the bill as amended by a unanimous recorded vote, the chair announced.

During preliminary discussion, Senator Kirkmeyer questioned a $30,943 appropriation tied to the bill, saying she was "fine with the bill" generally but asked, "I don't know why we just don't, do not put this, 30,943 on." Kirkmeyer criticized repeated incremental funding for what she characterized as personal services in the executive director's office, adding, "I think this is ridiculous. I don't wanna put this on." (Senator Kirkmeyer spoke after the chair called on her.)

Senator Bridges responded that keeping line items on the bill prevents larger future requests, saying agencies sometimes return later with aggregated fiscal notes if items are denied. "I'd say the reason we put it on is when we don't, they come back to us, like, 2 years later, and they're like, so you denied $200,000 worth of fiscal notes, and now we need $200,000," Bridges said.

The committee moved to consider the amendment when the chair proposed it and Senator Bridges formally moved "Senate Bill 35 and J1." The clerk polled the committee on J1: Senators Gonzalez and Kolker, the vice chair and the chair voted aye; Senators Kirk Meyer, Whiston and Helton B voted no. The amendment was adopted 4–3. The committee then polled on Senate Bill 35 as amended; the clerk recorded all voting members as "aye." The chair said the bill passes unanimously and will go to the Committee of the Whole and be placed on the consent calendar.

Committee members asked whether the agency had spent previous appropriations or "padding" the fund; no member or the clerk could provide the fund's current cash balance during the hearing. That fiscal-balance question was not resolved on the record.

No statutes, fiscal note details, or sponsor statements beyond the exchanges cited were offered on the floor; sponsors were reported present but did not provide extended testimony during the committee's consideration.

The committee moved SB35 forward with the adopted amendment and placed it on the consent calendar. The next procedural step is Committee of the Whole consideration.