House Appropriations & Finance members spent a prolonged hearing on budget adjustment authority (BARs), debating whether to limit agency ability to move money across budget categories or to increase other‑fund spending at the start of a fiscal year.

What was proposed
Committee staff described a recommended change to the BAR rules in House Bill 2: remove the provision that allows agencies to (1) transfer money between major budget categories and (2) increase other‑fund appropriations at the very start of the fiscal year. The rationale presented was that removing that start‑of‑year blanket authority gives the legislature time to review the prior year’s encumbrances and expenditures; agencies could still request adjustments in mid‑year via the BAR process, which would preserve executive flexibility for unanticipated needs but not allow immediate transfers that affect initial fiscal‑year starting points.

Why members care
Ranking Member Chatfield and other members said agencies sometimes submit BARs late in the fiscal year—often immediately after LFC review—leaving legislators little time to consider them. Chatfield argued the pattern creates inequities because one agency’s late adjustments can effectively appropriate money the legislature would otherwise allocate. Representative Pettigrew and others urged stronger legislative authority and asked whether striking the start‑of‑year authority would remove DFA’s ability to approve BARs altogether; staff replied the change would remove the blanket start‑of‑year authority only and that DFA would still approve BARs during the fiscal year under statute.

Process implications and staff answers
Staff explained that, under current statute, the executive can submit BARs to DFA; when DFA approves, LFC has a period to object and can schedule a hearing. Staff said they will provide the committee with monthly BAR reports and suggested available statutory approaches—but noted that a repeal or tightening of DFA authority would require separate statutory language, not just the HB2 language in the committee’s BAR section. Board staff also proposed language in HB2 that would simply not include the start‑of‑year blanket transfer provisions, effectively keeping the authority limited to mid‑year adjustments unless the Legislature expressly provides otherwise.

Member reactions
Members said they want more transparency and earlier notice for BARs, including: monthly BAR summaries, timing constraints on when BARs can be submitted to reduce last‑minute requests, and clearer information on encumbrances versus expenditures for each agency so the committee can judge whether reauthorizations are needed. Some members voiced concern about the practical effect on agency management, noting smaller agencies sometimes need flexibility to move money among categories to keep operations running; others warned that routine use of BARs had become a substitute for legislative appropriations.

Next steps
Staff will provide the committee with monthly BAR reports and a working suggestion of statutory language to limit the start‑of‑year transfer authority; the committee deferred final decisions to later action, asking staff to prepare clear options and data on historical BAR timing and dollar totals.