Transcript Highlights:

• We are the smallest executive budget agency of any state, with five analysts.
• The person that you created the criteria, that's part of their budgeting process.
• The person that you created the criteria, that's part of their budgeting process.
• And if you're in the budget area, you know when you deal with those budgets for a significant number
• And so maybe it's just those budgets that they are said, 'You've got to attend this budget hearing because

Summary: The task force first approved the March 25, 2026 minutes as amended, including a correction removing language that suggested the auditor’s office would contract with a security vendor. Members then moved to a bill draft on concessions (LC 27.0161.00000), which would raise the competitive solicitation threshold from $25,000 to $50,000, allow requests for proposals in addition to bids, clarify that proceeds go to the entity’s operating fund or general fund, and make other technical updates. OMB explained the draft and answered questions about scope, fragmentation, vendor restrictions, school districts, and whether concession proceeds could be directed to nonprofits; OMB said the draft could be refined further, including clarifying covered entities and contract length. No vote was taken on the draft during the discussion. OMB also reported on other survey items. It said a proposal to broadly allow agencies to create pre-qualified architect/engineering/land surveying vendor pools would not move forward, because the existing authority is working well for the agencies that already have it. On legal notices, OMB said it has been working with the North Dakota Newspaper Association on modernization, including an ADA-compliant online notice system and possible statutory updates to reflect changing technology and notice definitions. On click-through agreements for routine IT purchases, OMB and the Attorney General’s office said policy clarification—not statutory change—was enough, and the $20,000 threshold was intended to distinguish low-dollar adhesive contracts from purchases where terms can be negotiated. The committee also heard that OMB and the Center for Distance Education had resolved questions about alternate procurements and food/beverage expenditures through existing policy, so no statutory changes were needed there. North Dakota University System representatives gave a brief update on ongoing collaboration with OMB on statutory efficiency ideas, including concessions and surplus property. Finally, the task force discussed a draft on requirements for new or expanded spending programs, which would require agencies to identify purpose, expected benefits, alternatives, success measures, and full implementation costs, and would require reporting on outcomes over time. Members debated whether OMB or Legislative Council should collect and report the information, how to use the new program evaluators, whether real-time dashboards should be used, and how to choose which programs to evaluate; staff from Legislative Council said they would work with OMB and the auditor’s office to revise the draft and process.

Transcript Highlights:

• This morning, we’ll hear from the Department of Taxation, who represent their biennial budget requests
• folks know that's a department software folks know that's a department software solution<00:04:18.880
• So we hire our software developers.
• Yeah, we're trying to fill the positions that have budgeted amounts for them.
• Yeah, we're trying to fill the positions that have budgeted amounts for them.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• Neil Miira, who is our budget administrator.
• <00:05:18.880> and Administration division uh budget and Administration division uh budget
• <00:18:54.520> and director saliva um would budget and director saliva um would budget and
• > finance it's budgeted within budget and finance it's budgeted within budget and finance and<00:
• <00:31:14.120> yeah impact on on departmental budgets yeah impact on on departmental budgets

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• are funding $270,000 for both FY 26 and 27 for the student internship programs, certification, and software
• /c><00:01:45.680> And<00:01:46.000> this<00:01:46.240> is certification and software
• And this is certification and software.
• I'm sorry, the House Bill 300, the budget bill.
• I'm sorry, the House Bill 300, the budget bill.

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Transcript Highlights:

• software.
• We have CSA software now.
• budget posted to the appropriations journal.
• It's not budgeted.
• "It would require that amendment to the budget.

Summary: The committee began with prayer and approval of the January 8 minutes, then received updates on delinquent private water and sewer reports. Staff reported that for the 2022 reports, 19 of 43 entities had had their turnback reinstated, while 24 remained in escrow; for the 2023 reports, 59 of 64 entities had filed, leaving five outstanding. The committee also filed a report on Adona, where staff said the city had made enough progress toward substantial compliance with municipal accounting laws to discontinue withholding turnback, and the committee adopted that recommendation. The bulk of the meeting focused on municipal accounting noncompliance cases. Gum Springs and Denning were presented with extensive repeat findings involving budgets not adopted by ordinance or resolution, missing or incomplete bank reconciliations, inadequate receipts and disbursement records, payroll issues, and improper handling of Act 833 funds or other city money. Both cities’ mayors and recorders-treasurers testified about efforts to correct records, obtain training, and work with the Municipal League; the committee voted to start the 60-day turnback-withholding clock for both and then filed the reports. Fargo was deferred because no city representative was present. Additional reports included Green Forest, Elaine, Strong, Brooklyn, Mineral Springs, Rondo, Waldo, Columbia County, and several private water and sewer entities. Strong drew significant concern over missing garbage-bag revenue, improper fund transfers, and deficit balances; the committee deferred that report to the March meeting. The committee also heard investigative or referred reports on the Faulkner County Fair Association, Brooklyn payroll direct-deposit fraud, and other entities with questionable disbursements or recordkeeping. In several cases, staff recommended filing the reports after responses were received; in others, the committee deferred action when responses were lacking or representatives were absent. The meeting ended with a motion to defer a Cross County Rural Water matter so the entity could appear at the next meeting.

Transcript Highlights:

• Staffing resources are going to be needed to do that, and we have an estimate of a budget that has a
• Staffing resources are going to be needed to do that, and we have an estimate of a budget that has a
• , the enterprise software, and that's the total cost of the system.
• > and The software, the enterprise software, and that's the total cost of the system.
• <00:21:52.679> requires<00:21:53.279> specialized the software requires specialized

Keywords: 912, senate, all

Summary: The Committee on Labor and Technology heard testimony on several measures. Senate Bill 327, relating to internships, drew broad support from the Department of Education, Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, University of Hawaiʻi, DBEDT, P20, HFIA, Hawaiʻi Electric, the Hawaii Primary Care Association, and the Chamber of Commerce, with suggested amendments to clarify the internship purpose, limit some responsibilities to the state executive branch, and address staffing and reporting details. The committee later recommended passing SB 327 with amendments, including changes to the internship language, private-sector references, work-hour limits, reporting requirements, and a deferred effective date for further discussion. Senate Bill 716, relating to the Hawaii Employment Security Law, received support from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations as a step toward modernizing unemployment insurance, and the committee recommended passage with housekeeping and technical amendments. Senate Bill 717, relating to collective bargaining, would allow certain exempt employees to grieve suspensions or discharges. The City and County of Honolulu and the Department of Human Resources Development said the issue should remain a collective bargaining matter, while HGEA and United Public Workers supported the bill. DHRD opposed changing the statute and pointed to existing internal complaint procedures. The committee nevertheless recommended passing SB 717 with amendments and deferred the date for further discussion. Senate Bill 742, relating to data sharing, would create a data sharing and governance working group within the Office of Enterprise Technology Services and include appropriations. OETS, the Executive Office on Early Learning, the University of Hawaiʻi, DOE, Hawaiʻi Kids Can, Hawaiʻi P-20, and others supported the measure, with OETS estimating a total cost of about $2.64 million, including software, consulting, and six FTE. The committee recommended passage with amendments and a deferred effective date, and noted the budget request in the committee report. The final measure, Senate Bill 855, relating to the Hawaii Retirement Savings Act, would shift the program from opt-in to opt-out and appropriate startup funds; former Senator Brian Taniguchi and AARP supported it, while Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi and the Tax Foundation of Hawaiʻi opposed it over costs and burdens on small businesses and concerns about adding mandates before the program is implemented. The committee recessed briefly on a proposed AARP amendment, then returned and indicated support for the opt-out language before taking the bill up for decision-making.

Transcript Highlights:

• So my sense is that we're getting close to the end on this budget.
• No, this is a study to tack on to the budget. Oh, it's attached? Yeah.
• I think you have a study that you wanted regarding interagency software.
• So I am not aware it was not in the governor's budget.
• But it would take the money out of our budget and put it in here.

Bills: SB2399

Keywords: mental health, psychiatric treatment, reimbursement, medical assistance, legislative report, 908, all

Summary: The committee reconvened and first reconsidered House Bill 1612, the aerospace medical and mental health support center bill. Senator Cleary offered an amendment to reduce the general fund appropriation from $500,000 to $250,000 and require the university or project sponsors to find the remaining funding from other sources. The amendment passed, and the bill was then recommended do pass as amended, with members citing concerns about university funding, but others supporting the project as a one-time seed investment. The committee also discussed a possible future FMAP increase beginning October 1, 2026, which could reduce general fund costs by roughly $9 million, though members noted the figures were still preliminary and could be addressed later if needed. The committee then returned to Human Services budget items, including early childhood and child care funding, a community cultural center grant, and several other adjustments. Members discussed reducing the “best in class” amount, changes to child care grants and quality/infrastructure funding, and clarifying that prior child care assistance appropriations were in fact being spent. They also agreed to reduce the 1915(i) Medicaid waiver line by $2 million, with the understanding that the entitlement would still be funded as needed. The committee also considered taking guardianship funding out of House Bill 1012 because a separate bill, Senate Bill 2029, would move that funding elsewhere; members agreed that removing it from the budget could help the overall bill and could be restored if the separate bill failed. Several study amendments were discussed. Senator Cleary proposed adding a maternal health study related to prenatal services, doulas, midwives, and Medicaid, and members expressed support. The committee also discussed a software/case-management study proposal, but the department said it had not requested it and would not support it as presented, so members leaned against advancing it unless the department first evaluated it. Another amendment would authorize the department to work with the city of Grafton on a long-term plan for the LSTC campus and require a report back to the legislature; members supported that as legislative intent. The committee also agreed to remove a truancy study section for later conference discussion, and it reviewed other possible study ideas, including assistive technology, before adjourning to await updated long sheets and bill text.

Transcript Highlights:

• More significant new costs on small business owners include hardware. and software upgrades to handle
• We use specialized furniture software, and it's a six-digit number to replace the software.
• So it was just kind of like a budget night situation? I think we had one of those recently.
• The bill gets attached to the budget, it passes, and now this bill is being litigated. Am I right?
• There's plenty of software out there that can handle these transactions.

Bills: HB245, HB245, HB700, HB2783, HB3526, HB3900, HB4061, HB4124, HB4166, HB4395, HB4534, HB4609, HB4641, HB4736, HB4738, HB4739, HB4945, HB5015, HJR175

Keywords: property tax, delinquent taxes, ad valorem, penalties, interest cap, military service, retirement, law enforcement, custodial officer, Employees Retirement System, commercial financing, brokers, registration, disclosures, finance, consumer protection, fees, deferred compensation, automatic participation, county employees

Transcript Highlights:

• >> THE JUSTICE BUDGET COMMITTEE WILL NOW COME TO ORDER. MS.
• OCTOBER 2025, ACTUALLY TODAY IS THE ROLL OUT DATE, THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET
• EQUIPMENT, HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE.
• AFTER THAT OCCURS THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET COMMISSION OF THE FINAL REVIEW FOR
• DO YOU KNOW IF FDLE, AND SPECIFICALLY THIS GRANT PROGRAM, WILL BE MAKING A BUDGET REQUEST THIS YEAR FOR

Transcript Highlights:

• Budgets are already complete.
• Budgets are already complete.
• > say<04:20:18.080> software<04:20:18.479> design software it's when I say software
• And I think software package here.
• enacted until the next budget cycle. enacted until the next budget cycle.

Keywords: 928, house, all

Summary: The committee first took up SB 209, which would require schools seeking building aid for construction or reconstruction projects to use an owner’s project manager. The chair explained an amendment that would remove the bill’s requirement that the manager be engaged before application and instead revert to current law, while updating the project threshold from the older $1 million figure to a more current amount and clarifying that the manager’s role is to protect the project owner’s interests. Members asked about the cost of hiring a project manager over several years before a project is funded, the 1.5% fee in rule, and whether the rules already define the manager’s duties. The chair said the amendment addressed those concerns by leaving the timing to current law and relying on existing administrative rules for qualifications and responsibilities. The committee then voted 18-0 to adopt the amendment and 18-0 to recommend SB 209 OTPA, placing it on the consent calendar. The committee then moved to SB 99, which concerns allowing students enrolled in career and technical education programs at receiving comprehensive high schools to take additional academic courses there. The chair said the bill was intended to make it easier for students to access CTE without being blocked by scheduling conflicts in their sending schools, and to clarify how agreements between sending and receiving districts would work. He described concerns about the bill’s cost formula, transportation, part-time versus full-time status, and whether the proposal could unintentionally create open-enrollment or athletic-transfer issues. He said the amendment would mirror existing treatment for homeschool and charter school students, use a familiar funding model, and limit participation to students already enrolled in one or more CTE classes at the receiving school. The chair also emphasized that comprehensive high schools already have a statutory definition and that the bill would help more students participate in CTE, which he said currently reaches only a relatively small share of students statewide. He noted that transportation would be covered only when a CTE bus is available, otherwise students would be responsible for arranging travel as under current practice. After brief discussion, the committee voted 18-0 to adopt the amendment and 18-0 to recommend SB 99 OTPA, also placing it on the consent calendar.

Transcript Highlights:

• And New Jersey is suing over the same software right now.
• Some will believe it, and then they will use the software.
• done because they had to follow the software to make the investors happy.
• Across the country, landlords are using that same kind of software.
• That man who built that rent software actually came from the airline industry.

Keywords: 1146, all

Transcript Highlights:

• And we have a a budget that we call technical support, tutor management systems.
• So my experience at the school district, if if we had a contract with the software vendor or a service
• You provided the computers and the log in and the software.
• So you have a license to the software. You get the training from the vendor partner.
• So those scheduled with a tutor or even the automated software.

Transcript Highlights:

• We've got, and the budget, so we don't lose it.
• know instead of giving us this software know instead of giving us this software package<00:03:21.680
• we've got much larger budgets we've got much larger budgets we've<00:09:00.560> got<00:09
• <00:09:18.959> and coming with a M more robust budget and coming with a M more robust budget
• <00:09:58.640> any budget any budget any um<00:10:01.839> the<00:10:02.360> opportunities

Keywords: 919, house, all

Summary: The committee took up House File 289, authored by Representative Quam, and adopted a technical A1 amendment before moving the bill forward. Quam explained that the bill is intended to create a mechanism for frontline state employees, faculty, and management to identify waste, inefficiency, and possible savings in agency budgets, with a portion of any savings going back to the state budget and the remainder placed in a special fund for mission-related spending decided by a joint committee. He said the idea grew out of earlier faculty union discussions and that the bill had previously passed with bipartisan support, though it was underused when first enacted. Members generally praised the goal of empowering employees and improving efficiency, but several raised concerns about the bill’s practical operation and low historical use. Representative Jones asked why uptake had been limited and whether current conditions would improve participation; Quam responded that larger budgets and more employee engagement could make the program more useful now. Representative Freiberg and Representative Bonner both supported the concept but questioned whether employees would understand budget constraints and whether the structure might discourage managers from saving money intentionally. Quam argued that employee input would improve decisions, morale, and credibility, and could help justify needed investments. Representative Koznick asked how the bill interacted with the Odyssey Fund, and staff clarified that the two are separate accounts and do not directly affect each other. Representative Koznick also objected to comments he viewed as attacking the administration, and the chair reminded members not to impute motives. Representative Kosnik/Quam indicated openness to future improvements, but Representative Bonner said she was not ready to support the bill in its current form because of concerns about the approval process through MMB and the Legislative Audit Commission. Despite those reservations, the committee ultimately voted to send House File 289, as amended, to the General Register.

Transcript Highlights:

• And then $56 million for our annual budget.
• It cannot pass general law in the budget bill.
• That required a, a software change.
• So what did the writers say in the budget in 2023?
• I mean, we can't create law on the budget. I mean, that'd be a mess.

Transcript Highlights:

• The Pre-K through 12 Budget Subcommittee will come to order. Sienna, please call the roll.
• present, I want to welcome everyone to our third interim committee meeting of the Pre-K through 12 Budget
• We will have to come back to you on the costs expected in the budget.
• Of course, when we took our software offline, we had to go back to a manual process.
• We follow the same as Step Up as far as the forecasting, our budgets, and... ...our budgets, and Kim

Summary: The Pre-K through 12 Budget Subcommittee met to continue reviewing how Family Empowerment Scholarship students are funded through the FEFP and the role of scholarship funding organizations. Staff gave a statutory overview of parent, SFO, and Department of Education responsibilities, including application deadlines, eligibility verification, quarterly payment timing, cross-checks to prevent duplicate funding, and the 99% district FEFP limitation for certain awards. The committee then heard demonstrations from Step Up for Students and AAA Scholarship Foundation showing their parent portals, application workflows, reimbursement systems, school enrollment/invoice processes, and marketplace tools for tuition, tutoring, and approved goods and services. Step Up reported major growth since HB 1, saying its scholarship population expanded from about 260,000 to more than 440,000 students, with application processing averaging about 10 days. It also highlighted faster tuition, provider, and reimbursement payments, multilingual support in English and Spanish, and resources such as videos and a call center. Members asked about support for Creole speakers, optional Florida ID numbers, student identifiers, marketplace pricing, tutor qualifications, background screening, and how awards differ from funded status. Step Up said it does not currently support Creole, does not do background screenings for tutors, sets no marketplace prices itself, and uses a unique internal student ID separate from the state ID. AAA demonstrated its revised software for the 2025-26 school year, including an eligibility screener, household and student application steps, messaging with staff, reimbursement requests, and administrative review and payment batching. AAA said the new system is custom-built, more transparent about award value versus available balance, and designed to better handle quarterly funding for UA students. Members questioned AAA and Step Up about student ID numbers, public-school cross-checks, fraud controls, school fee schedules, whether schools must participate, and reimbursement timing. Both organizations said they report quarterly to DOE, receive public-school cross-checks, and recover funds when students return to public school; AAA said its average reimbursement turnaround is about 14 business days, while Step Up said its reimbursement approvals have improved significantly. The committee also requested follow-up information, including one-pagers, data on income levels and demographics, and additional details on forecasting and system costs.

Transcript Highlights:

• Finding under the mayor, the budget was... December 31, 2024.
• software.
• We have CSH software now.
• road fund amended budgets approved by the quorum court did not agree with the final budget posted to
• It’s not budgeted.

Summary: The committee began with approval of the prior meeting minutes and then received updates on delinquent private water and sewer reports. Staff reported that 19 of 43 original entities for the 2022 reporting year had had turnback reinstated, while 24 remained in escrow; for the 2023 reporting year, 59 of 64 entities had filed, leaving five still outstanding. The committee also heard that Adona had come into substantial compliance with municipal accounting law, and it voted to file that report and discontinue withholding turnback. It then voted to start the 60-day clock and file the report for Gum Springs after hearing repeated findings involving budgeting, disbursements, payroll, and Act 833 funds, with city officials saying they had begun correcting records and were seeking help from the Municipal League and a city attorney. Fargo was deferred because the mayor was absent due to illness. The committee next considered Denning, where staff described repeated and serious accounting problems over 2022-2024, including unauthorized payments, missing documentation, weak payroll controls, and improper handling of funds. The mayor and recorder-treasurer said prior records were disorganized and that they were now working with an attorney, CPA help, and new software; the committee voted to start the 60-day clock and file the report. Green Forest’s report, involving a fixed-asset listing issue after the mayor’s death, was filed. Several private water and sewer reports were either filed or deferred depending on whether responses had been received, and the committee announced its March meeting would be held in Room 149 because of renovations. The committee then reviewed a series of referred reports involving alleged financial irregularities. In Elaine, the fire chief’s questionable purchases were referred and filed. In Strong, staff described undeposited garbage-bag receipts, improper payments for private dumpster service and other expenditures, payroll tax penalties, and deficit fund balances; the mayor said controls had been improved, but the committee deferred the report to March. The Faulkner County Fair Association report found undocumented cash withdrawals, questionable disbursements, and inadequately documented cash payments to a carnival vendor; the committee filed it. Brooklyn’s report involved a fraudulent direct-deposit change, and Mineral Springs’ report involved transfers from the cemetery fund, employee loans, overpayments, and travel reimbursement issues; both were filed. Additional reports included Rondo, where the recorder-treasurer explained missing computers and fuel purchases tied to personal vehicles, and the committee filed the report; Waldo, where the mayor had been overpaid due to extra biweekly payments, which was filed; Columbia County, where a floodplain management contract lacked an authorizing ordinance, which was filed; and several private water-system reports, some filed and others deferred for lack of responses. Carlisle’s report showed large but improving misstatements in financial records, and the committee filed it after hearing that new software and training had reduced prior problems. Caddo Valley’s report prompted a lengthy discussion about CDs and interest recognition; staff explained that principal balances should be reflected as city assets and interest should be recorded when earned or reported by the bank, and the report was filed. Prairie County’s budget overrun and road-fund issues were discussed at length, with the judge explaining equipment and weather-related costs and staff clarifying the distinction between road funds and locally approved sales-tax uses; the report was filed. Finally, the committee deferred a Cross County Rural Water Association matter after learning it had not filed with Legislative Audit since 2002-2003 despite receiving significant state funding, and members expressed concern about the long gap in filings.

Transcript Highlights:

• ,<00:03:13.760> training uh maybe some software, training uh maybe some software, training
• <00:10:38.000> the in a budget year would diminish the in a budget year would diminish the
• matter and should have been a budget amendment and should have been a budget request to start with.
• matter and should have been a budget amendment and should have been a budget request to start with.
• The bill really was a budget matter and should have been a budget amendment and should have been a budget

Bills: SF0014, SF0018

Keywords: literacy, education, reading assessment, intervention program, public school funding, department of education, K-12 education, part-time attendance, public schools, student enrollment, education funding, 916, all

Transcript Highlights:

• that this board, which was established in 2016, does not have any dedicated FTEs or administrative budget
• And so the staff that does support this board are staff at our budget office, staff on our policy team
• So how this works is, when it was established in the FY 2017 budget, about $24 million was transferred
• And that's because, like I mentioned before, there's no dedicated FTE or administrative budget.
• The cooperative technology contracts cover hardware, software, and IT services.

Keywords: 1182, all

Transcript Highlights:

• This is a bill that we budgets online.
• , I mean, checkbook software.
• , I mean, checkbook software.
• We have a comment. >> Yes, Senator Madison. accounting software that hope I mean accounting software
• This is checkbook software.

Bills: SB23, SB71, SB105, SB109, SB115, SB131, SB148, SB165

Keywords: law enforcement, taser, restrained individuals, police procedures, civil rights, income tax, tax exemption, Alabama tax code, Section 40-18-3, civilian employees, Department of Defense, DoD, Armed Forces, military pay, combat zone, deployment, National Guard, Reserve components, emergency response, federal employees

Transcript Highlights:

• But there will be things that you don't like in this budget because every budget is that way.
• The health care budget bill, which contains provisions needed to implement the fiscal year 2027 budget
• needed to implement the FY 2027 budget.
• Members, yes, but we are telling ourselves that, so we are not using any of the budget surplus, the budget
• It comes out of our budget.

Keywords: 1182, all