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Ways and Means subcommittee holds primer on budget process, ORBITS tracking and posting rules
Summary
Subcommittee staff briefed members on how primary appropriation bills are numbered and structured, how the ORBITS tracking system is used, and procedural rules including a 4‑hour posting requirement for amendments and the subcommittee's limited power to table measures.
The Joint Committee on Ways and Means Subcommittee on General Government opened April 15 with an informational primer on how the Legislature’s budget process works and how subcommittee work sessions will proceed.
Kim, a legislative fiscal analyst, told co‑chairs and members that the subcommittee will hold 15 work sessions on 15 budget bills and walked through how primary budget measures are numbered and structured. “The budget bill or the primary appropriation bill, are in the 5 — you always know that there — it's a budget bill because it's in the 5,000 series,” Kim said. She noted Senate and House numbering conventions (5,500 vs. 5,000 series) can shift between sessions.
The memo and presentation emphasized that most appropriation bills include an emergency clause and become effective on passage but generally are not operative until the start of the biennium (July 1). For the current cycle the biennium ends June 30, 2027. Kim said budgets are organized by fund type—general fund, other funds…
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