The House Ways & Means Committee will hold a hearing on the budget bill at 10 a.m. and members will then head to the floor around noon.
The bill to be voted on tomorrow represents an agreement between all four corners of the Legislature – Democratic and Republican caucuses in the House and Senate. It will result in about $490 million worth of reductions, $51 million in fund transfers and $44 million in additional revenue through tax compliance efforts.
The total budget shortfall for the remainder of the current budget year is about $1.1 billion. With a total of $585 million in reductions in tomorrow's budget bill, that leaves about $541 million more for legislators to cut when they convene for regular session in January.
In addition to millions in administrative reductions, cuts include:
- $51 million in across-the-board cuts to state universities
- $39 million to eliminate K-4 class-size enhancement
- $9.1 million in planned K-12 education reform activities
- $27.7 million in Basic Health Plan (freezes coverage and lowers enrollment as people drop off the plan)
