Budget talks to begin Monday
Some representatives are worried about making the May 7 deadline.
Published April 1, 2005
Members of the House of Representatives Budget Committee said Thursday that talks would begin soon to send the state budget to the full House floor.
Rep. Brian Yates, R-Lee's Summit, said budget bills were introduced to the committee Wednesday, and talks will start on Monday.
Budget chairman Brad Lager, R-Maryville, said the committee wants to get the bills to the House floor by the end of next week.
"We're going to focus all next week on making sure those budget bills are thoroughly discussed," Lager said. "We're hoping to have it over to the Senate by mid-April."
The General Assembly has a May 7 deadline for the budget.
Rep. Wes Shoemyer, D-Clarence, said he is worried about the time the House is spending on the budget.
"Traditionally, the House has had our part of the budget done before spring break," Shoemyer said. "The Senate is getting extremely nervous."
Lager said House members are taking time to make sure they pass the budget methodically and reasonably.
"We want to make sure we craft the best possible spending plan for the state," Lager said. "I'm very comfortable that we're on track."
Rep. Ed Robb, R-Columbia, said the budget committee also had to wait on several major bills to move through the General Assembly.
"So many major bills had to be passed this year before the budget committee could start," Robb said.
Many other bills had to be dealt with first, he said, because they have a direct impact on next year's budget.
Robb said the biggest of these bills is the Medicaid bill, Senate Bill 539, which the House Special Committee on General Laws passed Wednesday night.
Yates, a member of the special committee, said he expects the bill will be passed by the time the budget debate begins so the House can note the bill's fiscal impact.
Medicaid is one of the major clashes in the General Assembly this year.
"In past years, we found a way to fund many of these important programs," Shoemyer said. "What this is really doing is exposing the priorities of the majority party."
Republicans contend the substantial Medicaid cuts are necessary to balance the budget without raising taxes.
Lager said some of the delay in the budget also comes from the House's receiving the governor's budget a week later than normal, and spring break being moved back a week to coincide with Easter.
Shoemyer said he fears there will be a short time limit for debate on the budget bills.
"I've heard numbers as short as 12 hours on the floor," Shoemyer said. "I can recall spending almost that time on a single bill."
Lager praised the appropriations committees' work.
"We've taken a lot of the (appropriations) committees' work and implemented it into the budget," Lager said. "So far the (appropriations) committees have done absolutely wonderful."
Robb said the recommendations given by the Education-Appropriations Subcommittee, which kept the higher education budget essentially flat, would be a starting point from which the budget committee would work.
Shoemyer said he does think the higher education budget will remain flat, but that is not enough.
"Flat is backwards," Shoemyer said. "Universities have to deal with pay-scale increases, maintenance and increases in fuel costs. Where do they make that up?"