State budget process marches on

• Synopsis of budget items of concern to counties (PDF)

With the Senate voting against concurring with the House’s spending plan, House and Senate conferees will begin “meeting” to discuss and reconcile differences. Shuttle diplomacy is generally the norm - with House and Senate leadership camped out in separate rooms, trading proposals back and forth. But unlike earlier budget negotiations, the Senate’s plan was released under the initial revenue estimates - with more than $2 billion in additional revenue availability undergirding its budget proposal. Ergo, more cuts than offered originally. And the tax packages differ markedly - the House’s finance plan relies largely on the tried-and-true while the Senate proposal seeks an overhaul of the state’s revenue structure.

Some agreement must be reached prior to the fiscal year end – be it a budget conference report or continuing resolution – as state spending authority lapses at midnight June 30 with the close of the 2007-09 biennium.

Counties are understandably concerned with their own finances as the General Assembly debates the state’s biennial budget. Many of the original cuts considered by the House would have directly reduced county reimbursements or shifted state responsibility for services to counties, thus driving up county costs. Much of the funding for these cuts was restored with revenue from the House’s finance package. If the House and Senate don’t agree on a finance package, then these cuts could come back into play. Furthermore, as fewer state dollars flow for human services and local education programs, counties face greater community pressure to mitigate state spending cuts. Yet, the same economic factors that contribute to declining state revenues hit counties just as hard, compelling counties to reduce funding for critical services and quality of life programs.

Click here (PDF) for a synopsis of budget items of concern to counties, including those "in controversy" (different proposals in House and Senate) and those with language and spending identical in both spending plans. In past years, those items not in controversy would generally move forward to become a part of the conference report.