The state legislature has a tense week ahead with the June 30th budget deadline approaching. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session every day through the end of the month, including Saturday and Sunday. The House Appropriations Committee, whose Republican chair is Representative Jim Struzzi, will meet three times while the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Senator Joe Pittman is a member, will meet at least once.
Senator Pittman said last week that he sees “no practical way that a budget will be completed by June 30,” naming two particular priorities that remain to be resolved: Medicaid spending and regulation of so-called “skill games.” Then in his weekly update yesterday, he reiterated that the budget issues will not be overcome by the end of June.
“The functional reality is that once an agreement on a budget framework is reached, there is a substantial amount of time needed for all pieces to be implemented. Given there is not yet an agreed-to framework, there is not enough time to have a budget in place by June 30th. Our work on the budget continues and there is an opportunity in the several days and weeks after June 30th to put a product together without any discernable impact.”
The senator did say that should the state fail to meet the June 30th deadline, he is open to passing a short-term budget that gives lawmakers more time to work on the final fiscal plan.
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