The Education and Environment Division on Feb. 11 amended funding levels in Senate Bill 2029, the guardianship funding bill, and recommended the bill receive a due pass as amended.

The committee voted to reduce several line items in Section 6 and to strike Section 7, which would have added funding to the Attorney General's budget for guardianship-related investigations. Senator Thomas, who led the committee's review of the bill, said the committee should limit this panel's role to fiscal adjustments and move certain staffing items into the judiciary and attorney general budgets.

"So, if we just go through that, the Guardianship Establishment Fund, I recommend keeping that," Senator Thomas said while reviewing his recommended changes. After discussion, Thomas moved to amend Section 7 out of the bill and to change the dollar amounts in Section 6; the motion was seconded and carried on a roll call.

Under the amendments the committee approved: the total reported for Section 6 became $15,246,400, reflecting the following adjusted line items—$1,096,400 for the (specified) professional services/operating line, $7,100,000 as a passthrough for public administrator support services, and $5,500,000 for the corporate guardianship contract with Catholic Charities. Thomas also proposed the committee move funding for new FTEs into the judiciary budget rather than leaving those costs within SB 2029.

Chairing senators and committee members voted unanimously to move the bill as amended to the full committee. The committee recorded the motion to give Senate Bill 2029 a due pass recommendation and carried the motion in the roll call vote.

The panel did not adopt any new policy directives in the bill text; chair and members emphasized the committee's role was fiscal. The committee asked staff to prepare the final amended language for circulation and to have copies ready for the full committee meeting later in the week.

Ending: The committee carried the amended SB 2029 unanimously and planned to present the amended bill to the full committee the following week; staff were asked to circulate the exact amended language prior to that hearing.