Legislative Operating Budgets: Format and Procedures

Legislative Budget Processes in Selected States

See Legislative Operating Budgets: Format and Procedures excerpt

State	Budget Format		Budget Development	Budget Management and Control	Budget Oversight	Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Authority	Status of Legislative Budget Request
	Consol- idated	Separate
Arizona*		X	House Senate Legislative Council Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) Auditor General Library and Archives	House Senate Each agency director	House Speaker Senate President Each agency director Relevant oversight committees	Via the General Appropriations Act for the staff agencies. The Speaker and Senate President can increase FTEs for their respective chambers if they have funding available.	Subject to regular appropriations process. (Note 1)
Arkansas*		X	House Senate Legislative Council Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC)	House Senate Each agency director	House Speaker/House Management Committee Senate President/Senate Efficiency Committee Legislative Council JLAC	Via Appropriations Act	Subject to regular appropriations process. (Note 2)
Colorado*	X		House Senate Legislative Council Joint Budget Committee Legislative Services State Auditor	House Senate Each agency director	House Speaker Senate President Relevant oversight committees Legislative Management Team	Executive Committee and relevant oversight committees	Subject to regular appropriations process
Connecticut	X (Note 3)		Office of Legislative Management (OLM)	OLM Four caucuses	Joint Committee on Legislative Management OLM	Newly authorized positions are negotiated between the legislature and the governor. (Note 3)	Governor must recommend legislature's request. (Note 4)
Hawaii	X		House Senate Legislative Auditor Legislative Reference Bureau Ombudsman	House Senate Each agency director	House Speaker Senate President Each agency director	Via regular appropriations process	Subject to regular appropriations process
Indiana		X	House Senate Legislative Services Commission (LSC)	House Senate LSC Agency bookkeepers	Four leaders House Speaker Senate President LSC	Four leaders	Included in governor's budget as submitted by the legislature. The appropriation is open-ended.
Iowa		X	House Senate Legislative Services Agency (LSA)	House Senate LSA	Legislative Council House and Senate Rules and Administration Committees	Leaders	Included in governor's budget as submitted by the legislature. The appropriation is open-ended.
Maine*	X (Note 5)		Legislative Finance Director (with input from House, Senate and nonpartisan staff agencies)	Executive Director of Legislative Council	Budget Subcommittee of Legislative Council Full Legislative Council	Legislative Council	Subject to regular appropriations process
Maryland		X	House Senate Department of Legislative Services (DLS)	House Senate DLS	DLS (although the presiding officers have ultimate oversight authority)	Presiding officers	Final when sent to the executive Department of Management and Budget. (Note 6)
Nevada*	X		Legislative Counsel Bureau (LCB) Legislative division Interim Legislature	Executive Director of LCB Each division director Chamber staff	Legislative Commission	Via the budget process	Subject to regular appropriations process
New Hampshire	X		House Administration Senate Administration Joint Committee on Legislative Facilities (JCLF) w/agency input (Note 7) Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant	Speaker Senate President JCLF Legislative Budget Assistant Each agency director	House and Senate Subcommittees for Legislative Management JCLF Fiscal Committee for the Office of the Legislative Budget Assistant	Via the budget process	Subject to regular appropriations process. (Note 7)
Ohio*		X	House Senate Legislative Services Commission Other legislative commissions	House Senate Commission directors	Speaker Senate President Legislative Services Commission Each agency's oversight committee	Legislative Service Commission chair and vice chair (Speaker and Senate President)	Subject to regular appropriations process
Oregon	X (Note 8)		Legislative Administration Committee (LAC) Legislative Assembly Legislative Counsel Committee Legislative Fiscal Office Legislative Revenue Office Commission on Indian Services	Six offices and their appointing authorities	Office appointing authorities	Via the budget process: enhancements via policy packages that are subject to the regular appropriations process	Subject to regular appropriations process
Rhode Island	X		Executive Director of the Joint Committee on Legislative Services (with input from six agencies)	Speaker Legislative Council	Speaker Legislative Council	Via the budget process	Approved as submitted by the General Assembly (Note 9)
South Dakota*	X		Legislative Research Council (LRC) Department of Legislative Audit (DLA)	Executive Board LRC DLA	Executive Board	Via legislation, the general appropriations bill or an amendment to the general appropriations bill	Subject to regular appropriations process
Vermont	X		Staff of the Legislative Council (with input from other staff agencies) Joint Fiscal Committee Sergeant-at-Arms	Legislature Legislative IT Legislative Counsel Joint Fiscal Committee Sergeant-at-Arms	Leaders Each legislative agency's oversight committee	Via the budget process. (Note 10)	Subject to regular appropriations process

* These states are subject to term limits.

Notes

Arizona: Technically, the governor does not make recommendations on legislative budgets. As a practical matter, however, the governor includes the prior year's appropriations for the legislative entities in the budget as placeholders.
Arkansas: Only the budget requests for the Bureau of Legislative Research and the Division of Legislative Audit are forwarded to the executive, which compiles all budget requests for presentation to the legislature. There is no executive recommendation made on either of them. The House and Senate staff bills are introduced during the session as recommended by the governing committees of each. All bills (including appropriations bills) require the governor's signature; without his signature, they become law after a certain number of days.
Connecticut. In addition to the consolidated budget, there are separate budgets for the five legislative commissions. Any newly authorized positions that are negotiated between the legislature and the governor are reflected in the Office of Fiscal Analysis budget book publication (which is referenced by special act)
Connecticut. Although the governor must recommend the legislature's budget request, changes may occur during the budget adoption and finalization process.
Maine. The vast majority of the Legislature's budget is contained in a single account (a unified budget), with smaller, separate accounts for specific purposes (e.g., the Commission on Uniform State Laws, the State House and Capitol Park Commission, the Law and Legislative Reference Library).
Maryland: Although the legislature's budget is final when sent to the executive Department of Budget and Management and in terms of hearings on the budget, it can change in conference committee or in the course of the budget process. For example, when the governor included a cost of living adjustment for all employees, the executive provided funds for all branches. Conversely, appropriations have been reduced in the legislative budget for the state match for deferred compensation. Also, it has happened on occasion when the conference committee increased the members' district account money. These instances are rare, however.
New Hampshire: The Joint Committee on Legislative Facilities is the umbrella organization for the Office of Legislative Services, General Court Information Systems, Legislative Accounting, State House Operations, Health, Protective Services and the Visitor's Center. As a courtesy, the governor accepts the legislature's (General Court's) budget as submitted. Because it is subject to the regular appropriations process, it is subject to change (although it typically passes without changes).
Oregon. Although the legislature's budget is passed as one bill, funds are appropriated directly to each agency, and spending is separate.
Rhode Island: When the General Assembly's budget is submitted to the governor for inclusion in the full budget, the governor cannot change the legislature's monetary request, although he can fail to include FTE increases. When this happened recently, the positions were added back through the legislative budget process.
Vermont: Position authorizations are part of the regular budget process with leaders making recommendations for the legislature, the Legislative Council for legislative staff positions and the Joint Fiscal Committee for fiscal positions.

Source: NCSL survey, October-November, 2005.

Posted October 2006.
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