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JFAC staff outline new budget hearing format, consolidated fund pages and SharePoint access
Summary
Legislative budget staff explained streamlined 90‑minute presentations, the consolidated fund analysis, account categories (PC, OE, capital, trustee/benefit), and where members can find materials in SharePoint and the legislative budget book.
Janet Jessup, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, walked JFAC through this session’s budget hearing process on Jan. 7, highlighting a condensed presentation format, standardized slides and a SharePoint repository of materials intended to give members faster access to key budget documents.
Jessup said hearings will focus on the most relevant budget items in a 90‑minute morning window, replacing earlier three‑hour PowerPoint sessions. Each agency slide packet includes an agency description, organizational chart with full‑time personnel (FTP) counts and vacancy data, a five‑year appropriation and expenditure trend, a consolidated fund analysis of dedicated funds, and a breakout of expenditures by account category: personnel costs (PC), operating expenditures (OE), capital outlay, and trustee and benefit payments.
She explained the consolidated fund analysis shows beginning and ending balances for each dedicated fund an agency controls and noted dedicated funds are statutory and cannot generally be used by other agencies. Jessup urged members to use the organizational chart and the five‑year snapshots to spot trends in FTP and spending and to direct questions to their analysts if a department’s salary savings, vacancy rate or one‑time spending looks unusual.
On personnel costs, the presentation included new five‑year averages and vacancy data to help members gauge whether an agency’s PC (personnel costs) percentage reflects permanent changes or temporary savings. Jessup cautioned that one‑time salary savings are not suitable for ongoing salary increases and encouraged members to discuss specifics with analysts.
Jessup closed by walking members through the SharePoint organization for meeting materials: the LBB (Legislative Budget Book) pages, LSO budget slides, agency slides, and hearing follow‑up items are filed in a consistent order and can be sorted by modified date to find the most recent uploads. Committee leadership praised the condensed format and the staff work to make materials more accessible ahead of budget decisions.
