The House Appropriations Committee on the first half voted to adopt an amendment to House Bill 10‑15 and then approved the bill as amended, moving a package of transfers and targeted appropriations for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Representative Dan Munson, who presented the OMB package to the committee, said the amendment includes repurposing vacant FTE lines, increases for IT and facility operating costs and a $40 million deferred maintenance pool. “No new FTEs in that section, just repurposing,” Munson said, noting two previously vacant special‑fund FTEs would be converted to a procurement officer and a communications specialist.

The amendment also adds $6.8 million in operating increases largely tied to IT, utilities and operating costs for the new state laboratory building east of the Capitol; $5.8 million in capital asset changes, and roughly $2.35 million for renovations, security and parking work at the governor’s residence. Representative Munson described the security rationale in plain terms: “The walls are very close, and they’re like 10 feet away, so people walking by can look right into … their daughter’s bedroom.”

Why it matters: the bill consolidates several small program changes into OMB’s budget and preserves state flexibility to make transfers from statewide pools. The deferred maintenance funding and equipment investments were highlighted by Munson and other members as addressing overdue building repairs and new operating needs tied to recently completed capital projects.

Key provisions and amounts approved in the OMB amendment include:
- $6,800,000 additional operating for IT, utilities and new state lab operations;
- $5,800,000 capital assets adjustments (Governor’s residence and other projects);
- $2,350,000 for governor’s residence security, parking and entry renovation;
- $3,000,000 capital building improvements and $192,000 for snow equipment and a floor scrubber;
- Removal of an Emergency Commission contingency appropriation duplicated in House Bill 12‑33;
- Creation of a rent, moving and space reconfiguration pool to cover agencies that relocate or incur higher rent during the interim;
- A $40,000,000 statewide deferred maintenance pool to address the most critical state facility repairs.

Representative Brandenburg spoke to a separate amendment that adjusts oil‑distribution and municipal hold‑harmless buckets connected to what he described as Senate changes. He said the House amendment would assume five additional counties and townships and add about $50 million to the “prairie dog” municipal/county distribution to keep cities and counties whole after the Senate action. Brandenburg outlined the calculation and asked the committee to adopt the Senate‑informed numbers.

A motion by Representative Munson to adopt the amendment passed on a roll call. The committee then moved a do‑pass on House Bill 10‑15 as amended; committee leadership indicated Representative Munson will carry the bill to the floor.

The committee recorded disclosures and excusals for members with personal or private interests in portions of the budget. Representative Berg disclosed a competitive contract award to her firm related to deferred maintenance design work and was excused from voting on the amendment.

Ending note: the amendment reduced the general fund request in part through the “new and vacant FTE” underfunding pool; Munson said that pool alone produced nearly $97 million in savings in the presented package. The committee approved the amendment and the bill as amended and moved on to House Bill 10‑12 (Health and Human Services) later in the session.