Projo Politics Blog

The House is set to vote on a supplemental budget this afternoon.

A revised proposal was passed earlier this week and a special session is scheduled for today at 2 p.m. to vote on the governor's proposed budget for the 2008 fiscal year.

Relying on cuts as opposed to tax increases, legislators say the budget closes a $168-million deficit for the current fiscal year.

See the amended budget online.

Some highlights of the proposed budget:

The governor's proposal to cut non-education state aid to cities and towns by $12 million remains intact.

Dropping subsidized health care for about 2,800 immigrant children stays on the table.

And a proposal to end welfare benefits for adults and children after 60 months was left in.

In a statement Tuesday, Gov. Carcieri said of the Democrat-led committee's decision:

“When I introduced my supplemental budget plan several months ago, I said that we needed to make difficult spending reduction decisions in a host of areas and that tax increases were out of the question. The House Finance Committee appears to agree.”

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