After the bill hearing, my lead witness and I met with a high ranking executive branch official.

We can fund what you want to do, she wrote me today, and the nominal funding needed for this purpose can be provided by the revenue collected from an existing revenue source.

That prompted me to ask the Attorney General’s Office, “Can this revenue be provided under existing law or is statutory authority needed?”

(In non-lawyer English: Do we need to pass a bill?)

I copied the official who had written me, who quickly responded, “To be clear, we don’t think we have the authority to provide funding…without legislation.”

Should I amend my legislation to get this done or should I wait until next year?

I’ll make that decision after I get my legal advice.