The Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Human Resources agreed to reduce the general‑fund portion of a proposed $28,000,000 child‑welfare information system to $6,000,000 and to authorize a line of credit for the remaining amount to allow contract signing and vendor work to begin.

The move, discussed during a subcommittee meeting on the Human Resources Division budget, preserves the state’s access to the full $28,000,000 — which the subcommittee noted is expected to be matched 50/50 with federal dollars — while freeing up general‑fund dollars for other uses in the near term.

Why it matters: the Department needs clear authority that money is available before it can sign a vendor contract for the large, complex IT project. Subcommittee staff and the department said the procurement and implementation timeline is long, so carrying full general‑fund dollars in the current biennium would be inefficient.

Department staff member Donna Auckland told the panel, “we are ready to put the RFP for the system out, I heard, in July.” She outlined the expected procurement and implementation cadence: by the time an RFP is issued and a vendor selected it will likely be winter, and contract negotiation could take three months or more. Auckland said actual spending will follow delivery milestones and testing.

Auckland described how vendor payments would be tied to deliverables: “we set aside a certain percent. So for every deliverable, we hold 10% till the project's complete, at which time then we pay the vendor for the total amount that was held back.” She said the department needs authority — either via direct appropriation or a line of credit — to sign a contract and begin work.

Senators and staff discussed leaving federal authorization in place while changing the state funding mechanism. A subcommittee member proposed dropping the general‑fund line from roughly $14,411,218 to $6,000,000 and establishing a line of credit for the difference; committee staff described the line of credit as an option to preserve access without tying up general‑fund carryover.

The panel did not record a roll‑call vote in the transcript; members indicated agreement to make the change and directed staff to update bill language.

Implementation notes from the meeting: the department expects the RFP to go out in July, vendor selection in winter, and a realistic production timeline that could extend into 2028. The project is large — staff said it involves more than a thousand requirements tied to federal and state regulations — and payment will proceed by deliverable with a final holdback released at project completion.

The subcommittee also discussed the budgetary mechanics and implications for carryover and next‑biennium planning; staff said freeing general fund carryover could increase available general fund by several million but that future legislatures will need to address funding for any line‑of‑credit draws.

The committee instructed staff to revise the draft appropriation language to reflect the change and to circulate updated long sheets to members before the next meeting.