Tamara Reveley of the Legislative Service Office presented working draft 26 LSO 84 (working draft 0.4), a bill to terminate the Riverton State Office Building Task Force earlier than its statutory sunset and to authorize use of any remaining task force appropriations for the Riverton renovation project. The draft moves the task force termination date from June 30, 2028, to April 1, 2026, and would reappropriate leftover LSO funds for the renovation or allow reversion depending on the final language.

Representative Lane Larson, the task force co‑chair, told the committee that the task force had completed its substantive work, including review and verification of Level 2 allocation of space for agencies moving into the renovated building. Larson said the remaining appropriation would help cover inflation and contingencies in completing the renovation.

Committee action: Vice Chairman Pendergraft proposed an amendment redirecting the remaining balance to the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (LSRA). Committee staff indicated depositing the balance into the LSRA would be procedurally possible. The committee moved and seconded the bill (moved by Senator Gru, seconded by Vice Chairman Pendergraft), approved the page‑by‑page review with the amendment, and passed the bill as amended. A roll‑call vote recorded 12 ayes on the final passage.

Numbers and next steps: Committee staff estimated roughly $38,500 remained in the task force appropriation at the time of the meeting; Representative Larson said that amount and remaining design contracts left the project early in its construction phase and that additional costs could still arise. The committee designated the bill to be a House bill for further processing.

Context: The task force was created by the 2023 capital construction bill to coordinate legislative and executive planning for a state office building in Riverton and to make recommendations on acquisition versus construction. With the renovation advanced to design and early construction planning, the task force recommended termination and reallocation of remaining funds to complete the project or to revert unused money per statute.

Quote: “The task force, really, by all except for one thing, really completed all the work that it was assigned to do by legislation last year,” Representative Larson said, summarizing the task force’s rationale for sunset and reallocation.

Outcome: The bill as amended will be forwarded as a House bill; staff will incorporate the amendment language and prepare the formal bill for eventual introduction and any subsequent legislative action.