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June 9, 2008

State budget could get committee vote Wednesday

PROVIDENCE -- The House Finance Committee has marked a major juncture in this year’s waning legislative session by posting notice that it may unveil -- and vote -- on Wednesday on an as yet unseen version of the new state budget for the year that begins on July 1.

The meeting has been posted for 1 p.m. Wednesday on the bill officially known as “H7390.’’

As State House veterans know, the meeting may be postponed for hours, days, and longer than that if the House, the Senate and in some years, the governor’s office are unable to reach agreements as happened with the mid-year budget repair bill that was posted and postponed numerous times before it finally cleared the House Finance Committee earlier this spring.

But when asked the likelihood House Finance will vote on the big 2008-09 money bill on Wednesday, House spokesman Larry Berman earlier today said: ‘’They are likely to do the budget on Wednesday, but it is always subject to any last minute change in scheduling.’’

The bill in its current state reflects what Republican Governor Carcieri proposed early this winter. Since then revenue estimates have dropped, and the potential deficit next year has swelled to $425 million by one estimate, though the governor and others believe it may be higher.

To plug a hole like that, lawmakers have had to at least consider program cuts that would go well beyond what Carcieri proposed, with organized labor -- and some impassioned community activitists -- urging more dramatic steps ranging from tax hikes, to the reversal or postponement of income tax cuts for the state’s wealthiest citizens, to sale of the state Lottery.

But in an interview last week, House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino said he has "major issues" with using bonds or selling the state’s bridges or lottery to help close the gap, but left the door open for limited "one-time fixes."

"One-shot deals for one-time expenditures aren’t necessarily a bad thing," he said, while refusing to explain what one-time revenue sources he would support.

-- Katherine Gregg of the Journal State House Bureau

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 11:26 AM | Permalink

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