Legislative Update for August 10th, 2007

After waiting a majority of Friday for the Senate to send over the agreed upon 12-month House Budget that was passed yesterday, the House was finally given the opportunity to put the seal on an approved budget for FY08. The vote was 98-8.

Senate members were given our budget that was passed yesterday and stayed up late into the night on Thursday to review the plan that gives $600 million to education, increases Medicaid payments by $400 million, and fully funds pensions. Members of the Senate reviewed the plan and made only technical changes before sending it back to the House to vote once again on their amended changes.

Because there were only few changes, House members voted late in the afternoon to approve the 1-year spending plan and send it to the Governor. It is still unclear if the Governor will sign the plan. He has made several comments that the approved budget is inadequate, but has also said he is not sure if he will veto the measure.

Something obviously needs to be done soon as state employees and state aid payments are due. The Governor must sign the budget now for there to be a smooth transition into the 2008 fiscal year.

However, there is a happy note for State union workers represented under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, or AFSCME. Through a court agreed order, Comptroller Dan Hynes was given authority to issue state paychecks to more than 40,000 union employees with or without a signed budget. Keep in mind, this does not include other non-union workers that are state employed. Until a budget deal is signed, these workers are still at risk for missing their much-needed paychecks.

At this time, the General Assembly has done its job by approving a 1-year budget. It’s time for the Governor to sign this important document so that we can focus our attention on other needs of the state.