The House Appropriations Committee adopted two amendments to Senate Bill 7 to establish and fund a prescribed fire claims cash fund.

Amendment L010 restored a $250,000 general fund transfer “to establish the fund and seed it,” according to material in the committee packet. Amendment J003 provided the administrative appropriation for the cash fund; both amendments were adopted without objection.

Representative Garcia Sander asked whether the money had been swept previously; the chair replied that the amount was originally in the bill and had been removed in the Senate appropriations process and that the committee was putting the funding back. The chair also said the funding comes from the legislative set-aside.

After adopting those amendments, the committee moved SB7 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the chair announced SB7 passed on a vote of 6 to 4.

The amendments restore seed funding and cover administrative costs for the newly established cash fund; the committee did not debate further policy details in the transcript.