Department heads, state officials, lobbyists and concerned citizens packed a Senate conference room Tuesday morning to air their objections to the House version of the state budget.

They told the Ways and Means Committee that the decision to not fund vacant positions as a means to trim the $12 billion biennium operating budget will hurt dozens of projects and programs.

Education officials, for instance, said they depend on the millions of dollars in their budget for vacant positions to fund special education and technology initiatives. They also said the cuts in the House budget bill would kill the administration’s plan to buy laptops and iPads for every student.

Other department heads testified that the funding they get for vacant positions is used for vacation payouts and other needs. 

WAM Chair David Ige said the committee received more than 250 pieces of written testimony on the latest version of the budget bill, House Bill 200. The committee intended to let anyone testify who wanted to do so, and the proceedings are continuing into their second hour.

Finance Chair Sylvia Luke said March 8 that the House decided to not fund vacant positions as a means to increase transparency in the budget. She said it would help lawmakers know more specifically how the departments are utilizing the money and force them to come before the Legislature for additional funding requests.

Last week, the Council on Revenues upgraded the state’s fiscal forecast, signaling to lawmakers that they will have upwards of $100 million more than previously expected to  have for the rest of the current year and more than budgeted for the next two years to come.

Check out the mountain of testimony on the budget bill here. 

— Nathan Eagle