Now that the Joint Ways and Means committee has wrapped up its roadshow hearings, the committee will shift focus towards agency budgets and policy bills that – if passed – would have a fiscal impact on the state’s budget. While the goal of the roadshow hearings was to gather public input on the budget – the taking up of agency budgets and policy bills will provide another opportunity for live and written public testimony. You can find a full list of measures that will be considered by the Ways and Means committee here.
Adding further complication to the budget process will be the release of the revenue forecast on May 19th. While we don’t have any exact figures, there’s word that the state’s revenue will be up – which strengthens the possibility of a “kicker” (something we wrote about back in March). We’ll have to wait until May 19th to know for sure what impact the revenue forecast will have on the budget. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date between now and then, and beyond.