It is now obvious there will not be a budget in place by July 1. The biggest hurdle in passing a budget is lack of agreement on a tax revenue package. The House has approved a package that generates an additional $784 M. The Senate is working on one that will generate closer to $900M. The differences are profound. The Senate wants to reduce income taxes and the sales tax. The House version raises both. The Senate has a larger list of services they would tax.
The Senate passed a Continuing Resolution on Thursday that would keep government operating at 85% of last year’s budget. The House is O. K. with the 85%, but will not agree with the Senate CR. The Senate CR would be in effect until a budget is passed. The House favors a version that would sunset the CR July 15. Stay tuned!
The Joint House and Senate Education Sub-committee on Appropriations met several times last week. While some differences remain they have reached agreement on much of what they will recommend to the big chairs. A few of the issues they agreed on are:
*Carreer Technical Education cut is eliminated
*Non-Instructional support cut reduced to $10M
*Transportation cut reduced to $15M
*Motor Coach Plan added $5,000
*Still up for grabs is the allocation for central office. The Senate is calling for substantially higher cuts than the House.
Right now the first order of business is to agree on a Continuing Resolution that will allow the government to operate until the budget is finalized.
