Legislative Council approves $18.8 million budget request for council staff, forwards it to Executive Committee

The Legislative Council on Monday approved and forwarded to the Executive Committee a fiscal year 2026–27 budget request for Legislative Council Staff totaling $18.8 million, voting 16–1.

Director Natalie Castle told the committee the request covers 109.6 full‑time equivalent positions and that roughly 80% of the budget is for salaries and associated benefits. "It totals $18,800,000," Castle said, adding that she characterized approximately $18,700,000 of that as general fund with the remaining roughly $141,000 in other funds.

Castle identified three primary cost drivers behind the requested increase: rising employer premiums for health, life, dental and vision (HLDV); a budget-neutral centralization of phone‑service funding; and annualizing costs from legislation enacted in prior years. On the phone-service change, Castle said the department now bills through Zoom rather than the prior vendor and that the shift yields a modest net savings for the legislative branch. "We are asking the other agencies to transfer those line items to Legislative Council Staff because now that we have moved to Zoom for our phone service, Zoom is not going to bill each agency separately," she said. "It's better and it's cheaper."

Committee members pressed for detail on the assumptions behind health‑benefit costs. Minority Leader Simpson asked the committee to explain the split used for premium assumptions; Castle said the executive committee directed a placeholder of "flat assumptions" and that the placeholder maintained an 88% employer / 12% employee split for HLDV. She said the executive‑branch negotiated proposal to the Joint Budget Committee staff was more generous to employees and would cost the state more on a per‑employee basis. Castle said premium increases used in the placeholder ranged "in the range of between 10–20% depending on which option employees take for their health benefits."

Castle also described a department package that includes an executive committee bill she quoted as "House Bill 20 six‑thirteen‑thirty 1," which she said would suspend several interim committees and has a total fiscal impact of about $400,000—approximately $161,000 of which affects Legislative Council Staff. After factoring that package, she said, the net increase to LCS would be about $245,000 (roughly 1.3%).

A motion to approve the Legislative Council Staff budget request and forward it to the Executive Committee was moved (the mover is not specified in the transcript) and seconded by Majority Leader Duran. The committee polled; the motion passed on a vote of 16 to 1. One member, Helton B., recorded a "no" vote; one member (Woodrow) was recorded as excused.

The meeting closed with brief closing remarks and a round of applause for the president, and the council adjourned.

Next steps: the approved memorandum and budget request will be considered by the Executive Committee as part of the legislative department's figure‑setting package.