Section E convenes to set biennium budget process, shifts 'FTE' language to 'positions budgeted'

The Joint Appropriations Subcommittee Section E opened its organizational meeting with Chair Beattie announcing the committee had a quorum and laying out the schedule and rules that will guide budget hearings for the upcoming biennium.

The committee’s work will cover seven agencies: the Office of Public Instruction; the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (including the university system); the Board of Public Education; the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind; the Montana State Library; the Montana Historical Society; and the Montana Arts Council. "The purpose of today's meeting is to get organized and also to establish a starting point in our budget," Chair Beattie said.

The session focused on process rather than policy. Julia Patton, lead fiscal analyst for Section E, explained a terminology change in the printed budget materials: what used to be labeled "FTE" (full-time equivalents) will now appear as "PB" or "positions budgeted." Patton said the change is intended to…