We’ve crossed the halfway point of the 45-day General Session, meaning that appropriations subcommittees have officially concluded their work to review agency budgets, make necessary approvals, and prioritize wish lists for new funding. The process of prioritizing new funding requests is laid out in the Joint Rule 3-2-402. Requests for new funding come from agencies (if approved in the Governor’s Budget), from legislators (as requests for appropriations), or from legislative staff recommendations. Many times, a single request makes its way through multiple channels, and the Executive Appropriations Committee (EAC) serves as a final filtering mechanism to make sure the right amount is appropriated to the correct project. EAC is aided by revenue estimates, updated during the last weeks of the General Session, in determining the total amount of one-time and ongoing funding to appropriate to new projects. “New funding” (that is, funding above and beyond what was included in base budgets) is contained in several bills, including: the New Fiscal Year Supplemental Appropriations Act and Current Fiscal Year Supplemental Appropriations (a.k.a., Appropriations Acts), Appropriations Adjustments (a.k.a., the Bill of Bills).
On February 9th and February 10th, chairs of the seven topical appropriations subcommittees will present reports to the Executive Appropriations Committee detailing committee actions and highlighting the prioritized lists for one-time and ongoing state funds:
Business, Economic Development, and Labor: 2023 Recommendations
Executive Offices and Criminal Justice: 2023 Recommendations
Higher Education: 2023 Recommendations
Infrastructure and General Government: 2023 Recommendations
Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality: 2023 Recommendations
Public Education: 2023 Recommendations
Social Services: 2023 Recommendations
Consolidated Priority Lists for All Committees: One-time and Ongoing