The Appropriations - Education and Environment Division amended Senate Bill 2029 on funding for guardianship programs and voted to give the bill a due pass as amended.

The committee adopted changes to section 6 that adjust line-item amounts for several guardianship programs and agreed to remove section 7, which had proposed funding in the attorney general's budget related to the program. Senator Thomas moved the amendment and Senator Connolly seconded; the motion passed on a roll-call vote and a separate due-pass motion on the bill as amended also carried.

The amendment replaces several dollar figures in section 6. Committee discussion and a readback of the motion listed the revised line items as $1,096,400; $7,100,000; and $5,500,000, producing a subtotal of $15,246,400 for the items addressed in that section. During debate Senator Thomas said he had "taken $200,000 out" of the DD Guardianship Establishment Fund and explained the split on the corporate guardianship contract for Catholic Charities was set at $5.5 million.

Committee members also agreed to remove section 7 from SB2029 and to treat the related attorney general funding as something the Appropriations committee will address in the Attorney General's budget instead; Senator Thomas said staff recommended that funding be moved to the Attorney General’s budget to keep the staffing and investigation costs together with other Attorney General resources.

The committee recorded the formal actions: Senator Thomas moved to amend SB2029 to strike section 7 and to change section 6 amounts as read; Senator Connolly seconded. The committee vote on the amendment and on the subsequent due-pass motion was recorded as unanimous "aye" by the members present. The chairman directed staff to circulate the finalized amendment language to the full committee before Wednesday's meeting.

The action affects pass-through support for public administrators (left at $7.1 million, as budgeted in the prior biennium), the corporate guardianship contract with Catholic Charities (set at $5.5 million under the amendment), and an adjusted smaller DD Guardianship Establishment Fund figure reflecting a $200,000 reduction from the bill's original single-line amount.

The committee will forward the amended bill to the full committee with the amendments tracked and with staff-provided copies for members prior to the next hearing.

Ending: The division carried the amended SB2029 forward for full-committee consideration.