Conference committee members debated placement and funding for a proposed new state hospital after the Senate moved a $330,000,000 construction appropriation out of the Department of Health and Human Services budget and into the OMB budget.

"The construction of the new state hospital was reduced by the $330,000,000 to 0 with it being moved to the OMB budget," Keith said. Several members objected to removing the appropriation from the human-services budget, arguing the House and Senate alike have been involved in the project from the beginning and that transferring the funding to OMB risks losing institutional knowledge and the project's current design work.

Lawmakers said the existing design work — which they said has cost millions to produce — would be wasted if the committee required a full redesign. One member called the hospital a "legacy" project that should be done "right from day one" and urged flexibility in bid language and ad alternates so the project could proceed without repeated later additions that would disrupt operations and raise costs.

Other members said they were open to OMB's technical construction expertise but stressed that the budget should still carry the funds and that steering-committee language and oversight belong in the Human Services budget regardless of where the line-item appropriation resides. No formal funding action was taken in the meeting; members agreed to continue negotiating the funding placement and the bill language in future conference work.