The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 17 approved several technical corrections to 2025 appropriations, moving previously reappropriated dollars into the state’s newly created broadband office, fixing how funds to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) are recorded, and reclassifying line items inside the Department of Health and Welfare so contract payments are budgeted in operating expenditures rather than trustee and benefit payments.

Legislative Services analyst Janet Jessup explained the broadband correction, saying the Legislature added the broadband office to the Department of Commerce after reappropriations were already recorded. The committee voted to remove the reappropriated amounts from the Commerce program and add the identical amounts to the broadband office so those monies can be tracked separately moving forward. Representative Handy moved the two-part motion; Senator Cook seconded and roll calls showed unanimous support from both chambers.

The committee also approved a $2 million technical correction for DEQ presented by Jessup. She said the appropriation had been recorded as a reduction to the agency’s general fund appropriation when it should have been shown as a transfer from the general fund; the correction restores the agency’s general fund appropriation and treats the dollars as a transfer so DEQ’s budget will not need offsetting adjustments elsewhere.

Separately, Jessup described two corrections for the Department of Health and Welfare. Both items move amounts that had been placed in trustee and benefit payments into operating expenditures because the outflows will be paid via contracts; state budgeting rules treat contract payments as operating expenditures. Representative Price made both motions — one shifting $160,000 for the substance abuse treatment and prevention program and another shifting $240,000 for the physical health services program — and both passed on unanimous roll calls.

Why it matters: these are bookkeeping and classification fixes, not new spending. They ensure appropriations and agency accounts match current organizational structure (the new broadband office) and the way payments will actually be made (contracted services). That reduces later reporting confusion and the need for corrective actions in future sessions.

What to watch next: committee members noted the actions net to zero at the state-general-fund level and that correcting the bookkeeping now should make program tracking and transparency easier during the upcoming budget and audit cycles.

(Documentation: committee roll calls and analyst briefings; motions recorded Jan. 17 JFAC.)