Next Week Marks Halfway Point in Special Session

Next Thursday marks the halfway point in special session.The thirty day special session that convened on April 29 is scheduled to end on May 28.

This Week

This week budget writers met for two days to discuss and brief on the more than 1,000 differences between the two budgets.  Leadership shared that at this point budget writers are going through the budget, identifying differences and determining where decisions will be required to reach a compromise.

Within the multitude of differences, the Legislature must reach agreement on several big policy and funding issues including support for K-12 basic education and mental health and then how to support these funds, which inserts a conservation around revenue.

In an effort to assist these conversations there is a bipartisan effort to push for an early revenue forecast to determine if the state will collect more revenue.  The next revenue forecast is scheduled for mid-June, which many policymakers recognize is too late.

Next Week

While there is no floor action scheduled to date, next week a handful of House and Senate Committees are scheduled to meet.  In the House this includes a public hearing on Thursday in House Appropriations to discuss a new approach to the Governor’s proposed cap-and-trade plan and on Wednesday a public hearing in House Finance on a capital gains tax proposal.  The Senate Higher Education Committee will convene on Thursday, as well, for a work session on transfer between institutions and sectors.

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