The Finance Committee met this afternoon to consider five bills.
House Bill 215 allocates $2.8 million of surplus to the Department of Environmental Protection for grant match on the Minden Superfund Site Clean Up and litigation.
House Bill 211 allocates $100 million of surplus to the Federal Funds/Grant Matching for future match needs.
House Bill 214 allocates $2 million of surplus to the Office of the Inspect General, Department of Health for various unfunded statute requirements. The $2 million will be used to help move the Human Rights Commission to a more accessible location, purchase additional vehicles, as the current fleet is in bad shape, and other mandates.
House Bill 219 allocates $1.05 million to the Public Defenders Services for the Public Defenders Corporation which was not funded in the budget. The PDS personnel has no line item in the budget as they are not state employees, they perform a state service but are paid through the corporation. This will increase the base budget in future years.
House Bill 224 provides the Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation spending authority for $1.7 million for jail maintenance. Currently, there is not a line item in the budget for regional jail maintenance.
The Committee will be meeting at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 6.
