Subcommittee Gets Orientation on Budget bills, Amendments, Key Performance Measures and Posting Rules

The Transportation and Economic Development Subcommittee held an informational orientation Monday to explain how agency budget measures and Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) recommendations will be presented and handled during upcoming budget work sessions.

Michelle Dicer, principal legislative analyst for the Legislative Fiscal Office, told the subcommittee that primary budget measures are organized by fund type and that members should expect LFO recommendations, posted amendments and accompanying materials on OLIS in advance of votes. “You will actually see an amendment posted on OLISS that will need to be adopted in order to move the budget to full Ways and Means,” Dicer said.

The orientation reviewed why the timing and format matter: budget bills generally take effect on passage but are operative when the biennium begins, and appropriation measures commonly list one appropriation by fund type—general fund, other funds, lottery funds and federal funds—rather than by detailed expenditure categories. Dicer…