# December 15th, 2025 Budget Comm Minutes ## **Budget Committee Weekly Meeting — December 15th, 2025** **Date:** December 15, 2025\ **Time:** 07:58 EST\ **Meeting Type:** Public “Contributor-style” meeting (watchers allowed; participation by contributor role only) **Attendees:** Dave Dionisio, Eric Helms (SCATDAO), Georgia Hutton (Delivery Assurance), Jack Briggs (Intersect), Kriss Baird, Kristijan Kowalsky, Lloyd Duhon, Megan Hess (Chair), Otávio Lima, Simo Simovic (PM), Thomas Lindseth **Quorum:** Confirmed (Chair + voting members present) *** ### **1. Opening and Meeting Structure Update** Lloyd opened the meeting and confirmed that the committee has shifted to a **“Contributor-style” meeting configuration**, consistent with other Intersect committee practices: * Meetings are **publicly viewable** (anyone may join as a watcher). * Only **contributors** can participate actively unless elevated by hosts. * Committee members, Intersect staff, and executives are treated as contributors by default. This configuration establishes a consistent transparency baseline while maintaining orderly participation. *** ### **2. Net Change Limit (NCL) — 2026–27 Proposal Status and Board Direction** #### **2.1 Board Approval to Socialize** Lloyd reported **positive news from Jack**: the proposed **18-month, 350M ADA NCL** is **approved to proceed into socialization**. This approval was received immediately as the meeting began and resets next steps: * Prepare the governance action for a **socialization phase**. * Publish to the forum for community feedback. * Target an **on-chain launch on/around January 5** (subject to the extension timeline and epoch accuracy). #### **2.2 Socialization Plan** The committee will support the socialization with: * A refreshed **blog post** aligned to the final NCL text and rationale. * Scheduled **X posts** and amplification by committee members. * Continued clarity that additional NCL changes can be raised later if strategic opportunity requires it. #### **2.3 Sequencing with Related Governance Actions (Jack)** Jack noted the broader sequence being pursued to reduce cognitive load: 1. **NCL socialization** now → **NCL on-chain** early next cycle 2. **2030 Vision & Mission** from Product Committee before Christmas 3. **KPIs** potentially as an additional Info Action in January 4. **Budget Process Framework / Budget Process Info Action (BPIA)** after the above (targeting February timing, leading into March process start) Jack and Lloyd noted that sequencing is intended to reduce friction and increase adoption. *** ### **3. Final Polish Pass on the NCL Document** The committee conducted a final review to remove ambiguity, technical pitfalls, and future interpretive risk. #### **3.1 Key Edits and Clarifications** Edits and decisions made during review included: * **Stablecoin liquidity budget figure:** clarified as **\~50M ADA** in approved budget actions not yet withdrawn (not 35M). * **Rationale wording:** improved to reduce personal framing and increase institutional clarity: * Replace “our” with neutral phrasing (“this proposal”, “the recommendation”). * Remove redundant “based on modeling” language and use **projected treasury inflows** consistently. #### **3.2 Epoch and Date Handling** The group aligned on making the proposal robust against technical objections: * Epoch references were corrected to align with the extension: * **Start epoch updated to 613** (not 605) after the extension, with an end at **epoch 713** (100 epochs total). * End date corresponds approximately to **July 3, 2027** (start of epoch 714), but the group emphasized that **epochs are the canonical reference**. **Thomas’s guidance:** avoid over-reliance on calendar dates because epoch length could vary.\ **Outcome:** retain epochs as primary reference; optionally use “approximately” if any dates are shown for readability. #### **3.3 CC (Constitutional Committee) Opinion Language** Thomas raised a risk scenario: * Although CC is **not constitutionally required** to vote on NCL, CC members could later state an NCL is unconstitutional and use that position when evaluating Budget Info Actions. To pre-empt future conflict, Thomas recommended: * Add a sentence encouraging CC members to **raise their opinion via rationale** on the NCL. Committee agreed to include softened language: * “**While not required, Constitutional Committee members are encouraged to raise their opinion via rationale on this Net Change Limit.**” This preserves constitutional correctness while reducing future procedural risk. #### **3.4 Superseding / Continuity Clause** Thomas confirmed the draft includes a continuity mechanism: * Even if superseded later, the NCL remains valid through the defined period, and the structure reduces the risk of the ecosystem entering a no-NCL period again. *** ### **4. Decision: Advance NCL to Socialization** With no objections recorded, Lloyd took directive to: * Deliver the updated NCL document to **Ryan** for forum formatting and socialization launch. * Align the public **blog and social content** to the final version. * Proceed toward the planned on-chain deployment following the extension timeline. *** ### **5. Budget Process Info Action (BPIA) — Remaining Work and Scheduling** After the NCL polish pass: * Committee confirmed there is still time to refine the **Budget Process Info Action**. * A working session will occur on **Wednesday** to continue edits and polish. * The committee will use remaining time before holiday break to finalize narrative alignment between process text, blog content, and governance sequence. *** ### **6. Communications and Process Readiness (Discussion Highlights)** #### **6.1 Anticipated Proposal Volume Increase** Kriss Baird raised an operational concern: * Proposal volumes may increase materially vs. last cycle (e.g., 200 → 250+, potentially more). * Vendors now have had a year of runway to prepare Treasury proposals, increasing likely submission load. * Recommendation: begin process comms earlier and provide clearer pathway so DReps are not bottlenecked. Jack agreed that January should include a renewed push to re-socialize the budget framework and process changes, giving proposers a multi-month runway before March. #### **6.2 Facilitation Model** There was discussion about whether Intersect/BC would require a neutral facilitation partner (as with Voltage Control previously). General position: * The committee believes it can now credibly serve as neutral facilitator, supported by: * Socialization phases * AMAs / town halls * Tooling support (including PRDMS for proposal feedback and provenance) #### \*\*6.3 Ranking and Budget Fit \*\*\ Lloyd reiterated that Ecclesia ranking will allow approved proposals to be prioritized if total approved spending exceeds the NCL cap. *** ### **7. Action Items** | Action | Owner | Notes | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------- | | Apply final edits to NCL document: stablecoin budget number, epoch corrections (613–713), rationale language cleanup | Lloyd & Simo | Align all references to 100 epochs; remove ambiguous phrasing | | Add CC “encouraged to provide rationale” sentence | Lloyd & Simo | Use soft language (“while not required… encouraged…”) | | Deliver NCL doc to Ryan for forum formatting and socialization | Lloyd | Begin socialization phase over holiday period | | Align blog post and scheduled X posts to final NCL narrative | Lloyd | Resurface and update existing blog with final story/rationale | | Continue BPIA refinement in Wednesday working session | Committee | Use additional time window created by extension | *** ### **8. Adjournment** Lloyd closed by recognizing this as the **last weekly meeting of 2025** for voting processes, with one remaining **Wednesday working session** before holiday break. Meeting concluded at approximately **00:53:32**.