Senate Bill 2,128 — legislation that adjusts release rules, good‑time calculations and the use of transitional facilities — generated extensive debate in the Appropriations Committee and will proceed to the Senate floor with split committee recommendations.

Senator Dever (committee member) introduced the amendments that clarified the bill would not prevent inmates serving under an 85% rule from participating in training and education programs. "It was my interpretation and the OCR's interpretation that this would prevent any inmate under the 85% rule from participating in any education, training, and those kinds of programs," he told the committee; an amendment to clarify that point passed unanimously in committee.

Committee discussion focused on whether policy changes in the bill would lengthen stays in more expensive placements (state prison versus transitional facilities), with a department fiscal note estimating roughly $22.6 million additional direct costs in the upcoming biennium and about $4.1 million in other impacts (the bill presenter summarized those figures in an updated fiscal narrative distributed to committee members). Committee members urged more study and data collection about the duration and outcomes of placements before making sweeping statutory changes.

The Appropriations Committee voted on a do‑not‑pass recommendation as amended by a narrow margin; the committee chair noted the policy committee had earlier split 4–3 on a due pass. "No bill in my legislative service has caused me the kind of stress that this bill does," Senator Dever said, urging further deliberation and study. The bill will move to the floor where the broader Senate will consider the competing policy and fiscal recommendations.

The transcript and the DOCR materials provided to the committee show the majority of the projected fiscal impact stems from moving more people into more expensive placements and providing longer periods under state supervision; the committee emphasized the fiscal note is not an appropriation but would need to be accounted for in future budget work if the law changes.