On Wednesday, the Senate Ways & Means Committee and the House Appropriations Committee amended and approved the supplemental operating budgets proposed by their respective chairs.

Amendments adopted in Ways & Means increased appropriations from funds subject to the outlook (NGFO) by $11.9 million compared to the chair’s original proposal. (I wrote about the chair’s proposal here and here.) With the committee changes, the revised proposal would increase 2023–25 NGFO appropriations by $1.866 billion. According to the updated outlook, the unrestricted NGFO ending balance at the end of 2025–27 would be $63 million.

Some of the notable NGFO changes in the Ways & Means-approved proposal include:

• $8.5 million in savings from removing support for small school districts. During the meeting, Sen. Robinson said that this corrects an error in the underlying budget that resulted in duplicative funding.
• $5.0 million for inclusionary professional development for classroom teachers.
• $4.6 million for high school and beyond plan (E2SSB 5243).
• $150,000 for a work group “to collect existing data and reports that the state receives regarding transportation fuels, evaluate the history of transportation fuel prices in the state, explore options to ensure transparency in transportation fuel prices and examine the various factors that influence transportation fuel prices at the pump.” A report would be due by Dec. 1, 2024.
• $25,000 to require school districts to report to the state how they have used special education funding. The compiled report would be due to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2024.

Amendments adopted in Appropriations increased NGFO appropriations by $17.4 million compared to the chair’s original proposal. (For more on the original proposal, see here and here.) As passed by the committee, the revised proposal would increase 2023–25 NGFO appropriations by $2.213 billion. The updated outlook estimates that the unrestricted NGFO ending balance at the end of 2025–27 would be $59 million.

Notable NGFO changes in the Appropriations-approved proposal include:

• $7.8 million for charter school enrichment ($1,500 per enrollment). This would be offset by removing charter schools from the small school district support policy, saving $4.7 million there.
• $5.0 million for senior nutrition services.
• $60,000 for a report on “cost-effective contracting, management, and implementation of legislative request provisos,” to include “an analysis of how these contracts fit into existing statutory law on bidding and contracting.” The report would be due by Dec. 1, 2024.