Tax credit enactment cuts projected general fund revenue by $50 million, analysts tell JFAC

Keith Bybee, Division Manager for Budget and Policy Analysis at the Legislative Services Office, briefed the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on updates to the general-fund daily revenue and the green sheet on Feb. 28. He said the governor's signature on House Bill 93, the parental choice tax credit, produces a $50,000,000 reduction in projected revenues under the legislative column.

"With the governor's signature on House Bill 93, the parental choice tax credit, you see a $50,000,000 under that legislative column for line 3," Bybee said. He told members that the Tax Commission will have additional resource needs reflected in a separate fiscal note to administer the credit and that those costs could be added to the Tax Commission budget or handled as a trailer bill depending on timing.

Bybee also walked through the green-sheet differences from the governor's recommendation, noting the legislature'to-date enhancements and agency differences. He reported the legislature was showing a 2.7% year-over-year increase in general-fund appropriations at that point and that the single largest driver remained CEC and health-insurance costs. Bybee said he planned to remove bills from the tracker that "don't appear to have legs" if they had not moved since January.

Ending: Committee members asked clarifying questions; Bybee said he would update the sheet later the same day and again for the following week's meeting. The committee did not take final action on revenues during this briefing; the update was informational and intended to guide upcoming budget deliberations.