Average Number of Appropriations Bill(s)

Legislative Budget Procedures: Appropriations Bills and the Budget Document

Legislative Budget Procedures Executive Summary

Average Number of Appropriations Bill(s)

State or other Jurisdiction	Single	Multiple †
Alabama	---	42: Two major, 40 minor
Alaska	---	3
Arizona	---	2: One for the operating budget and one for the capital budget
Arkansas	---	500
California	x	---
Colorado	x	---
Connecticut	x	---
Delaware	x	---
Florida	---	6: One in the House, five in the Senate
Georgia	x	---
Hawaii	---	4: One for the Legislature, one for the judiciary, one for the executive branch and one for the Office of Hawaii Affairs
Idaho	---	90: All individual agency appropriations bills
Illinois	---	2–8
Indiana	x	---
Iowa	---	20
Kansas	x*	---
Kentucky	---	3: An omnibus bill for each branch of government
Louisiana	---	4*: One for general appropriations, one for legislative expenses, one for judicial expenses, one for ancillary expenses
Maine	---	2: A unified budget bill and a highway fund bill
Maryland	---	2: One for the operating budget and one for the capital budget
Massachusetts	x	---
Michigan	---	17: Thirteen bills for operating departments and agencies and the judicial branch, one bill for capital outlays and three education bills (K–12, higher education and community colleges)
Minnesota	---	10: Nine plus one tax bill
Mississippi	---	120: Twenty to 25 major; the rest minor, such as for regulatory boards
Missouri	---	17–18
Montana	---	70: One omnibus bill and other capital projects and miscellaneous bills
Nebraska	---	6: Long session: one main budget bill, one for constitutional officers’ salary, one for legislators’ salary, one for capital construction, one for deficit, one for state employee salary 2: Short session: one or two bills
Nevada	---	6
New Hampshire	---	2: One for the operating budget and one for the capital budget
New Jersey	x	---
New Mexico	---	7: A "Feed Bill," which funds the Legislature, General Appropriation Act, Education Appropriation Act, Highway and Transportation Act, Fair Commission Appropriation Act, Game and Fish Department Appropriation Act and Court Appropriation Act
New York	---	10–30
North Carolina	---	3*: One for the continuation budget, one for the expansion budget and one for the capital budget
North Dakota	---	50
Ohio	---	6–8
Oklahoma	---	30–40
Oregon	---	100
Pennsylvania	---	60: The omnibus bill plus others for private museums, universities and hospitals
Rhode Island	x	---
South Carolina	x	---
South Dakota	---	One omnibus bill and 40 to 60 individual spending bills
Tennessee	x	---
Texas	x	---
Utah	---	2: One for education and one for the rest of state government
Vermont	---	3: An omnibus appropriations bill, one capital bill and one transportation capital bill
Virginia	x	---
Washington	x	---
West Virginia	x	---
Wisconsin	x	---
Wyoming	x	---
American Samoa (N/R)	---	---
District of Columbia (N/R)	---	---
Guam	x	---
Northern Mariana Islands	x	---
Puerto Rico	x	---
U.S. Virgin Islands (N/R)	---	---
Total: States	18	32
Total: States and Territories	21	32

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, December 1997.

Key:
† = This count does not include companion bills or supplemental bills
--- = Not applicable
N/R = No response

*Notes:

Kansas-- In the past, as many as 14 separate appropriations bills have been considered by one or both chambers. During the 1997 session, the House and Senate each considered one appropriations bill due to an informal agreement between the chairs of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The same is scheduled to happen in 1998.

Louisiana-- Total does not include "Final Judgment Bills" (suits against the state).

North Carolina-- In 1997, for the first time, the continuation, expansion and capital budgets were combined into one bill.

The publication to which this table belongs, Legislative Budget Procedures: A Guide to Appropriations and Budget Processes in the States, Commonwealths and Territories, is available wholly and solely online.
Posted March 1999, reviewed December 2003.
Email statebudget-info@ncsl.org for more information.
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