State Lawmakers Closer To Reaching Budget Agreement

It’s week number ten of the legislative session and lawmakers are turning their attention to the state budget.  We are told they are pretty close to an agreement on spending. 

For the first time in a long time the state has a surplus. But there are plenty of agencies with their hands out looking for a piece of that pie.  

“Budget negotiations are going along swimmingly.” said Senator Greg Treat (R) Senate President Pro Tempore.

The problem with a surplus though is deciding who gets what.  

“Our sub chairs have really dug into the agencies. Of course, we have the agencies request of about 1-point-2 billion dollars.  We have identified that we will have $574.6 million in additional appropriations for this year.” said Representative Kevin Wallace (R) House Appropriations Chair.

That’s minus about $200 million in obligations.

“Bond issues, flex benefits and also it’s agreed that we’re going to have an investment in Hepatitis C for DOC this year also,” said Wallace.

Teachers want $400 million for another round of raises and for more classroom spending.  The governor and House favor a $1,200 dollar raise.  The Senate wants local districts to make that call.  

“What we’re really saying is we are prioritizing putting money in the formula allowing the school districts if they think that they need to have a pay raise for that particular district, awesome.  Do it,” said Treat.

“The chambers are committed to a robust education budget and we’ve been very clear on house priorities, that we would like to put money in the formula, and we’d like to have a teacher pay raise,” added Representative Jon Echols (R) Majority Floor Leader. 

Lawmakers also want to set aside money for a rainy day. 

“The governor has talked about $200 to $250 million.  I’ve been on the record as saying I think it would be wise and prudent to save at least 10 percent of the surplus,” Wallace said. “At the end of the day we will not have enough resources to meet all the requests of the agencies.”

The Senate is also looking at whether a cost of living increase is feasible for retired state workers.  But the clock is ticking.  Any legislation to increase the pension must pass this week.