Committee instructs staff to draft severance‑tax sweep options after members endorse up to $50M proposal

Senator Kirkmeyer outlined a proposal to sweep roughly $50 million from severance tax operational and related funds into the general fund in the current cycle, while examining whether some programs now paid from severance could be shifted to other cash funds to preserve longer‑term funding. She suggested using the difference in revenue forecasts (September to March) and working with Director Ferrendino of DNR to identify shifts that could create ongoing general‑fund savings.

Committee members discussed technical constraints and statutory listings of programs that receive severance funding (energy and carbon management, geological survey, avalanche information, reclamation, species conservation, aquatic nuisance and wildfire mitigation programs, etc.), and asked staff to calculate updated numbers and include the approved DOLA portions in the transfer bill. Staff said the additional amount from forecast differences was around $47M on top of previously approved transfers and that they would confirm the full table of amounts and timing.

The committee asked staff to include the updated transfers in the omnibus transfer bill and to return with a detailed schedule and legal notes on Monday. The motion to prepare drafts and include the updates passed on a voice vote with no recorded objections.