Please contact your Senators immediately!

Ask Senators to make changes to HB 811 to stop the redirection of dedicated fees.

The “Rainy Day Fund” trigger should be changed from 7 percent to 3 percent.

House Bill 811, having passed the House by 151-5,was intended to prevent the redirection of dedicated fees for the Solid Waste Trust Fund, the Hazardous Waste Trust Fund, the Peace Officer and Prosecutors Training Fund,and Joshua's Law (drivers education training). If dedicated fees were not appropriated for these statutorily-intended purposes, then the fees would have been reduced or eliminated, proportionate to the amount that was redirected.

Regrettably, the Senatepassed a version in which thefee reductiontrigger will not kick in until the state's Rainy Day Fund is at least 7 percent of previous year's state budget, which currently would be about $1.1 billion. The problemis that theRainy Day Fund has exceeded this amount only once since 1988. To see the history of the state'sreserve fund, click here.

An appropriate and realistic compromise is reducing the above Rainy Day Fund threshold from 7 percent to 3 percent.

Without this change, the redirection of fees will continue withrare, if any, constraint.

Your Senate member may say that we should pass a constitutional amendment if we want to truly dedicate funds. The irony is that all bills to do so in recent years have died.

For more information, please see: HB 811 Talking Points

Please contact your Senator and have them support HB 811 as passed by the House or with a provision that the bill would take affect with no more than a 3% budget reserve in the State’s Rainy Day Fund.