Joint Fiscal Office explains 'ups and downs' crosswalk used to track appropriations changes

The Appropriations Committee heard a walkthrough of the “ups and downs” or crosswalk worksheet from Amy Pope of the Joint Fiscal Office, who showed members where to find the document online and how it summarizes changes from the prior yearbudget.

The explanation matters because the ups-and-downs spreadsheet is the single-sheet view many agencies use to show increases or decreases in personal services, operating, grants and fund-source shifts between the previous-year appropriation and the next fiscal year. "The ups and downs, this document is actually created by the administration," Pope said, adding that the sheet compares the next fiscal year to the prior enacted budget rather than a later budget adjustment act.

Pope guided committee members to the Joint Fiscal Office website and the department-by-budget pages that hold department-specific ups-and-downs. She said the sheet lists fund sources (general fund, transportation, education special fund, etc.), columns for personal services, operating and grants, and a right-hand total that sums the row. She noted the worksheet reflects the governor's recommended changes and that later House or conference committee changes also appear on the public web reports.

Several members asked how to interpret specific rows and parentheses on the worksheet. Pope said the ups-and-downs are often terse and primarily numeric; supporting detail is available in Vantage reports and agency PowerPoint narratives submitted for testimony. She recommended using the web roll-up or detailed reports when members need account-level context: "Salaries and wages is just, a simpler way of identifying what what's going on," she said.

The committee discussed common items members should watch for on the ups-and-downs, including rescissions listed as "other changes," the difference between the enacted budget and the Budget Adjustment Act (BAA), and how grants lines may or may not include explanatory language. Pope cautioned that the ups-and-downs compare to the prior enacted budget (the 2025 budget in the demonstration) and so can show items already adjusted in a BAA as new changes for the upcoming fiscal year.

Committee members and staff also flagged examples in the treasurer's worksheet and larger bill totals shown on the web reports (Pope referenced totals in the billions on some conference committee reports) as instances where members should drill into the Vantage reports or agency narratives to determine percent changes and the underlying programmatic implications.

The presentation closed with Pope noting additional materials typically provided by agencies for hearings: a PowerPoint, narrative, Vantage reports and the ups-and-downs crosswalk. Committee members were told those materials would also be posted to the committee page for each day's hearings.