INDIANAPOLIS – Legislators will get to work on passing a new biennial state budget as early as next week under a proposed timeline laid out Thursday by legislative leaders.
But a special session likely won’t be called until mid-June – after a revised revenue forecast is done and hearings are conducted on a full budget proposal from Gov. Mitch Daniels.
Legislators failed to agree on a new two-year spending plan at the end of April and now must go to overtime. The state’s current budget ends June 30, and legislators are at odds with one another – and Daniels – on making further cuts.
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, and House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend, issued a joint statement Thursday that said a special legislative committee will handle deliberations on a budget plan, which will be based on a proposal to be presented by Daniels’ administration June 1.
“Since the end of the regular session, legislative leaders have been meeting to discuss the most orderly way to conduct a budget debate without resorting to a long, costly special session,” Long said.
Bauer added: “This plan also ensures that the Daniels administration plays a full role in the formulation of the new budget. The governor will have every chance to detail his priorities in funding, tell us where he wants to see cuts and clarify the role he feels federal stimulus dollars will have in helping us write a state budget during tough economic times.”
Daniels said Thursday that he appreciates the bipartisan approach being taken to the fiscal challenge.
“This process, by facing the reality of our revenue shortfall, should produce a far more responsible, pro-taxpayer result than the legislature was headed for last week,” he said in a statement.
The projected timeline of events is as follows:
•Tuesday – The bipartisan State Budget Committee will receive a report from the governor’s administration on the state’s finances, including a review of April revenue numbers, early projections for the month of May and a forecast for the rest of 2009 and beyond.
At that time, the committee will ask the Revenue Forecast Technical Committee to prepare a revised revenue forecast for the biennium that begins July 1, 2009, and ends June 30, 2011. The committee will be assisted by two non-legislative voting members appointed by Bauer and Long.
This step is important because it provides a base revenue number – how much money the state can spend – for all four caucuses and Daniels to work from. The failure at the end of the session was partly because the governor didn’t believe the updated revenue forecast provided in mid-April was accurate. The most recent revenue forecast supported Daniels’ opinion.
•May 26 – The technical committee will present the revised revenue forecast to the State Budget Committee. The numbers will be turned over to the administration, which will prepare a new, complete budget.
According to the legislators’ statement, the administration’s budget will include a school-funding formula – something Daniels has not provided in his five years in office. Instead, his administration usually has assigned an amount of new dollars to go to K-12 education with an overall average increase for schools. Then legislators work out the complicated formula for distribution that usually sparks battles as lawmakers look at how school district fares.
•June 1 – The administration’s budget will be presented to a special budget subcommittee led by Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, and House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis. The subcommittee will include voting members from all caucuses and will meet between June 1 and June 15 to consider the administration’s proposal.
The subcommittee has no real power except to conduct hearings on the budget, which could save the state money. If full legislative hearings were conducted during a special session, all 150 lawmakers would be paid a higher per diem. A special session is estimated to cost about $75,000 a week.
“Our current goal is for the subcommittee to have its work done in that two-week period, so a special session can be called by the governor on or about June 15,” Long said. “Of course, the governor will have the right to call a special session anytime prior to June 15 if he chooses.”
