Budget time for state lawmakers

Budget time for state lawmakers

This week we began a series of hearings designed to guide a great deal of our decision making for the next legislative session.

Budget hearings allow members to hear the needs of every board and state agency funded with state tax dollars. The General Assembly currently directs 87 cents of every general revenue dollar to education and health and human services.

Arkansas’s two largest sources of general revenue are collected from a portion of the 6.5 percent state sales/use tax and from the Arkansas individual income tax.

The latest general revenue report released shows our year to date net revenue totals $1.3 billion. This is $4.3 million or 0.3 percent below levels this time last year, and $32 million or 2.3 percent below what had been forecasted.

We will take this report into consideration as we approach fall budget hearings.

The committee will review budgets for 220 state boards, commissions and agencies. The first budgets looked at are for “cash fund agencies” meaning they generate their own money through fees or fines. An example would be a state board which regulates a specific industry. Then the committee will review agency budgets that are funded mostly from general revenue.

That will include education, human services, and corrections.

The Governor then submits his proposed balanced budget on November 9. That will include a forecast of what the state expects to see in the next year in terms of revenue.

All of this information will help in drafting appropriation bills before the Regular Session begins on January 9. It takes a 2/3 majority vote to extend a session beyond 60 days. If we don’t begin drafting appropriation bills before the session begins, there would be little chance of us finishing our work on time.

The budget hearings will continue from now until November 21. All of the hearings will be held in the MAC building located behind the Capitol and are open to the public.

Arkansas is noted for its strong fiscal restraint. The Arkansas state budget must be balanced as deficit spending is prohibited by law.

We will keep you updated on the process to balance next year’s budget.

From State Representative Milton Nicks