Subcommittees of Appropriations--Numbers, Size and Hearings

Legislative Budget Procedures: Deliberation on the Recommended Budget

Legislative Budget Procedures Executive Summary

Subcommittees of Appropriations--Numbers, Size and Hearings

	Subcommitteess of Appropriations						Subcommitteess Hold Hearings?	Do the Full Committees Also Hold Hearing on Same Subject?
	Assembly or House		Senate		Joint
State or Other Jurisdiction	No. †	Size †	No.	Size	No.	Size
Alabama	V	V	V	V	--	--	Yes	Yes
Alaska	V	4-7	V	3-7	--	--	Yes	Yes
Arizona	3	5-6	4	4-6	*		Yes	Yes*
Arkansas	--	--	--	--	V	5-20	Yes	Yes
California	5	4-5	5	3	--	--	Yes	Yes
Colorado	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Connecticut	--	--	--	--	12	9-15	*	Yes
Delaware	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Florida	5	11-15	4	6-9	--	--	Yes	Yes
Georgia	7	6-14	7	5-7	--	--	Yes	Yes
Hawaii	V	V	--	--	--	--	No	--
Idaho	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Illinois	6	5	V*	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
Indiana	1	9	3	6	--	--	Yes	Yes
Iowa	--	--	--	--	9	14	Yes	No
Kansas	6	3-5	29	2-5	--	--	Yes	No
Kentucky	6	7-8*	*	2-3*	6	9-11	Yes	No
Louisiana	V	V	--	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
Maine	--	--	--	--	V	V	Varies	Yes
Maryland	4	5-7	3*	6-7	V	V	Yes	No
Massachusetts	20*	3	--	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
Michigan	14	6-8	13	3	1	16	Yes	Yes
Minnesota	11*	11-21	9*	9-14	1	6	Yes	No
Mississippi	V*	V	V*	V	--	--	Yes	Varies
Missouri	5*	18-26	--	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
Montana	--	--	--	--	6	6	Yes	Yes
Nebraska	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Nevada	V*	V	V*	V	4*	V	Yes	Yes
New Hampshire	6	3-5	6	1-3	--	--	Varies	Varies
New Jersey	4*	3	--	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
New Mexico	5	8-10	V	1-3	--	--	Yes	Yes
New York	--	--	10	3-4	--	--	No	--
North Carolina	--	--	--	--	5*	14-17	Yes	Yes
North Dakota	3	7-8	V	V	--	--	Yes*	Yes*
Ohio	5	5-8	--	--	--	--	Yes	Yes
Oklahoma	8	4-9	7	5-12	--	--	Yes	No
Oregon	--	--	--	--	6-8	6-8	Yes	No
Pennsylvania	3	V	--	--	--	--	No	--
Rhode Island	5	2-5	3	2-5	--	--	Yes	No
South Carolina	6	4	5	4-5	--	--	Yes*	Yes*
South Dakota	--	--	--	--	2*	9-10	Yes	Varies
Tennessee	V*	9	V*	3-5	--	--	Yes	Yes
Texas	5	5	V	V	--	--	Yes	Yes
Utah	--	--	--	--	9	9-15	Yes	No
Vermont	--	--	--	--	1	10	Yes	No
Virginia	10	5-7	7	6-7	--	--	Yes	Yes
Washington	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
West Virginia	V	V	V	V	--	--	Yes	Varies
Wisconsin	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Wyoming	--	--	--	--	V*	V	Yes	No
American Samoa	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
District of Columbia	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Guam	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Northern Mariana Islands	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Puerto Rico	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
U.S. Virgin Islands	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Source: National Conference of State Legislatures, 1997.

Key:
† No. = Number of subcommittees
† Size = Number of members that serve on each subcommittee
V = Varies
-- = Not applicable
N/R = No response

*Notes:

Arizona--The House and Senate subcommittees meet jointly for most appropriations hearings. Full committees also hold hearings on the same subject, but only for a few large budget units.

Connecticut--Subcommittees have public meetings with agency and budget staff, but do not hold formal hearings.

Idaho--No formal subcommittees are used; rather, information groupings are established in interest areas by committee members.

Illinois--The Senate has no regular standing subcommittees.

Kentucky--A House standing committee chair may be appointed as an ex-officio nonvoting member in addition to usual members. Senate Rule provides for three-member subcommittees, but none are utilized during session. In practice, they function only with interim joint subcommittees.

Maryland--The Senate divides into two subcommittees for certain agencies and programs. The full committee will hold hearings on some areas of the budget. A separate subcommittee reviews capital projects.

Massachusetts--Each member of House Ways and Means is a chair of a subcommittee's entire operation. Each subcommittee covers a number of agencies and the entire state operation.

Minnesota--The House and Senate fiscal subcommittees are divisions of policy committees.

Mississippi--In both houses, subcommittees are appointed by the respective appropriations committees as deemed necessary by each chair.

Missouri--These are not actually subcommittees but, in fact, standing appropriations committees, although the Missouri House does have a Budget Committee that considers and approves the recommendations of the standing appropriations committees.

Nevada--Each house varies, but there are currently four joint subcommittees with varying numbers of members from each house. (Votes are taken of each house's members separately.)

New Jersey--The subcommittees of the House General Assembly Appropriations Committee for the 1996-97 session were Economy, Government Operations, Ways and Means, and State Aid. The subcommittees have not been active in recent years.

North Carolina--The House and Senate appropriations subcommittees work together as joint subcommittees.

North Dakota--The House subcommittees hold hearings. The Senate subcommittees, when established, generally do not hold hearings.

South Carolina--Subcommittees meet with agency representatives whose budgets they are considering. Full committees also may meet with agency representatives.

South Dakota--Each subcommittee is assigned specific state agencies; small groups are established within each subcommittee to hold more in-depth hearings.

Tennessee--Subcommittees meet jointly (for hearings) with related substantive committees.

Wyoming--The House and Senate subcommittees sit in joint sessions to review the executive budget, conduct hearings and compose the appropriations bill that is introduced.

Legislative Budget Procedures Executive Summary

Published March 1998; posted January 2004.
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.
Email statebudget-info@ncsl.org for more information.
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