Senate committee takes hatchet to state budget plan
The
But community colleges and state universities would see reductions of 2 percent, with some exceptions.
The
There was no public comment, and those attending were not given line-item details until after the vote.
General fund dollars are down 12 percent year to date, while the initial forecast for setting budget numbers estimated growth of 3.4 percent. This was the third attempt to draft a new spending plan in which numbers are pegged to a revenue forecast that has been highly volatile because of crude oil prices.
"The adoption of this budget will reflect how serious this situation is for the state of
"This is painful, extremely painful," said Sen.
Sen.
"My party wouldn't look at it," he said. "The reason we don't have money is the economy is bad and taking more in taxes might make it worse."
The budget still has to gain final approval from the full
The proposal calls for use of general fund reserves of
Both parties this week showed considerable fatigue with the budget process, which doesn't draw much attention in most years.
Saturday's actions were the third revisions, with the initial budgets for both Martinez and lawmakers being released in early January and based on a December estimate of
Then, after hearing testimony from agencies and department heads on that spending level, the
After the shock wore off, House members scrambled and agreed to sweep unspent money from dozens of state accounts into general operations. They also trimmed spending on new programs, canceled most employee raises and passed a document that upped spending just
Now, after another week of economic data and financial modeling, the
For
Republican State Land Commissioner
At a news conference Wednesday, Smith responded that lawmakers rely on numbers and estimates and experts, and many of those outside the Roundhouse are looking too hard for someone to blame.
"I hope this doesn't become a partisan issue," he said. "These are difficult times for our citizens, these are difficult times for the executive, these are difficult times for the Legislature trying to work through this. We're a citizen Legislature, and we're doing the best we can."
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Highlights of
--Education gets a boost of
--Statewide judicial agencies see an increase of
--
--The
A plunging revenue outlook
Evolution of projects for new money in
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