|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State
Rep. Mike Carroll |
  
|
FROM: State Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Luzerne/Monroe
TO: Editor, Community Express
RE: The process of enacting the state budget
Putting a final state budget in place is a complicated process that begins about a year in advance. The following explanation shows how the budget goes from blueprint to the final product.
First, state agencies such as the state Department of Agriculture prepare their budget requests during August and submit their requests to the state Secretary of the Budget beginning in early October. From October to January, the Office of the Budget reviews the agencies’ budget requests and prepares funding recommendations for the secretary and the governor.
In December, the governor meets with leaders of the General Assembly to apprise them of anticipated spending and revenue levels, and to discuss major fiscal issues. The governor’s finalized budget proposal is then presented to a joint session of the House and Senate, though his budget address is in early February.
Following the governor’s release of the executive budget proposal, the appropriations committees of the House and Senate hold hearings to review agency requests for funds. The appropriations hearings provide legislators with an opportunity to review the aspects of each agency’s programs and determine funding priorities. Legislators can later provide testimony to their appropriations committees on the items they feel are most important to fund in the final budget.
Based on the governor’s proposals, the General Assembly formulates a general budget containing appropriations for the executive, legislative and judicial branches, public schools and public debt, which is borrowing by state government to finance expenditures not covered by current tax revenues. All other appropriations are made individually by separate special bills. Appropriations made to institutions not under the absolute control of the Commonwealth, such as cultural institutions, are considered non-preferred appropriations and require a two-thirds vote of each chamber for passage.
The general fund budget legislation must be approved by both the House and Senate. It is then sent to the governor, who can sign the budget bill, veto it in its entirety or veto parts of it and have the legislature amend the bill. A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote of each chamber in the General Assembly.
When the governor enacts the bill, the state budget is now law and determines where and how the state will spend its funds for the fiscal year.
According to state law, the budget must be enacted every year by June 30. Last year, after failure to meet the deadline, about 25,000 "non-essential" state workers were furloughed for a day without pay. Because their salaries for the new fiscal year are paid from funding in the new state budget, failure to enact the budget on time leaves the state without the necessary funds to pay these employees. There is also an ongoing debate about whether or not the furloughs are mandated by federal law.
Although the workers later received compensation for the furlough, we need to make sure the budget is in place to avoid a similar situation from occurring this year. I’m committed to bringing the budget in on time and with the funding needed to continue programs important to Pennsylvania residents.
|
### |