Last week the House and Senate released their respective transportation, capital, and operating budget proposals for the 2021-2023 biennium. That means six different budget proposals to sort through. But don’t worry, the Government Relations team
has poured over them and highlighted the key areas of interest to cities. Check out our budget matrix for more details.
We also encourage you to watch this video to learn the six budget priorities that we’ve asked the state to include in its proposals.
There is good news for cities in the proposals–city priorities generally fared well. The state budget proposals include investments and funding for:
- The Public Works Trust Fund;
- State revenue sharing;
- Police reform work;
- Housing stability assistance; and
- Key local transportation programs.
The legislative budget proposals rely on federal ARP funds for the state to finance programs related to COVID-19 and to backfill areas like the transportation budget where the pandemic has resulted in revenue shortfalls.
One area we think the Legislature needs to include more funding is the Basic Law Enforcement Academy. Cities believe the Legislature should provide more money to support additional classes to keep up with demand for new officer training.
Please continue to share with your local legislators about the importance of these city funding priorities and ask for their support. The budgets still need broad support from all legislators in order to pass and many areas will be subject to negotiations
over the next few weeks. Ask your legislator to weigh in—It’s an important part of the process.
What’s ahead?
While budget negotiations between the House and Senate carry on, bills will still be working their way through the legislative session. This week will see the deadline for bills to pass out of the fiscal committees in the opposite house.
You can always find the latest on key bills, including their current place in the process, in our weekly Hot Sheet.
Upcoming legislative deadlines:
- April 2: Deadline for bills to pass out of the fiscal committees in the opposite house.
- April 11: Deadline for bills (not related to the budget) to pass the opposite house.
- April 25: Session ends.
What happens to bills between the April 11 deadline and the end of session? The Legislature uses this period to work out different versions of bills. For a bill to be enacted into law, both the House and the Senate must pass the same version of the bill.
Often a bill is amended throughout the process, which means that the two houses may have passed differing versions. The Legislature uses a concurrence or conference committee to try to resolve the differences. Concurrence is the most common approach,
in which the other house is asked to concur on the changes. When concurrence can’t be achieved, they can refer the bill to a conference committee. There, legislative representatives attempt to reach a compromise. This work can last all the way
through the final hours of the legislative session.
If you need help understanding the process or have additional questions about the budget proposals or any bills, please reach out to your Government Relations team.