House leaders release compromise budget targets, set stage for conference negotiations

House leaders held a press availability to announce numbers-only budget targets meant to guide House budget bills and future negotiations with the Senate and the governor.

The targets, described by House leadership as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, set specific spending directions — including $40,000,000 in new money in the first biennium for K–12 — and constrain forecast growth in Health and Human Services without specifying policy changes. "These budget targets represent a compromise between Democrats and Republicans," the House leader said.

Why it matters: The targets set the numerical framework that committee chairs will use to draft bills and that conferees will later compare with Senate and governor budgets. Leaders said the document is “numbers only,” with no binding policy agreements, and framed the targets as the first chapter in a multi-stage budget process that moves next to bill drafting, Ways and Means review, floor debate and, after the break, conference negotiations.

The House leader said the targets were negotiated with Republican House leadership and were released after a weekend when leadership expected some leaks and reporters' questions. "We worked hard in our negotiations with, leader…