| Time Frame |
Who/What |
Actions |
| September – November |
- State agencies/departments develop their budget requests for
the next fiscal year and send them to the Executive Office that
oversees their area of service. (For example the Executive Office
of Health and Human Services oversees most of the human service
programs offered by the state)
- The Executive Offices review the budget requests of their
departments and come up with the final budget request to be
submitted to the Executive Office of Administration and Finance,
the office responsible for developing the Governor’s budget
request.
|
- Write commissioners of state agencies to ask them to include
funding for critical programs in their budget requests for next
year.
- Write the heads of the Executive Offices to ask them to include
funding for critical programs in the budget submitted to the
Executive Office of Administration and Finance.
|
| November - January |
- The Executive Office of Administration and Finance works with
the Governor to develop the Governor’s budget proposal
for the next fiscal year.
|
- Send letter to the Governor in November requesting funding
for critical programs.
|
January (End of February if newly elected Governor)
|
- The Governor submits his/her budget to the legislature.
|
- Review the Governor’s proposed budget and analyze impact
on critical programs and the people they serve.
|
| February - April |
- The House Ways and Means Committee develops its budget for
the coming fiscal year.
|
- Contact Representatives in the House to urge support for critical
programs and funding to implement them.
- Ask legislators to speak with Chair of House Ways and Means
Committee and the Speaker of the House to urge them to include
needed funding in House budget.
|
| April |
- The House Ways and Means Committee releases its budget.
- The full House debates the proposed budget making changes
through the passage of “floor amendments” which
add or delete funding or language to the budget. The end result
is the final House budget.
|
- Review the House Ways and Means budget and assess its impact
on critical programs and constituencies.
- Decide if a floor amendment is needed to add money /language
or to eliminate bad proposals from the budget.
- Educate legislators about the impact of the budget on people’s
lives and ask them to sponsor/co—sponsor needed floor
amendments.
|
| February - May |
- The Senate Ways and Means Committee develops its budget for
the coming fiscal year.
|
- Contact Senators to urge support for critical programs and
funding to implement them.
- Ask legislators to speak with Chair of Senate Ways and Means
Committee and the Senate President to urge them to include needed
funding in Senate budget.
|
| May |
- The Senate Ways and Means Committee releases its budget.
- The full Senate debates the proposed budget and makes changes
through the “floor amendment “ process. The Senate
releases final budget after floor debate and consideration of
amendments.
|
- Review Senate budget and assess impact on critical programs
and constituencies.
- Decide if a floor amendment is needed to add money/language
or eliminate bad things from the budget.
- Educate legislators about the impact of the budget on people’s
lives and ask them to sponsor and support needed floor amendments.
|
| June |
- The Senate and House appoint three members each to a “Conference
Committee” which irons out differences between the House
and Senate versions of the budget and releases the final budget.
- The Conference Committee budget is enacted by both the House
and Senate without amendments and sent to the Governor.
|
- Contact members of the Conference Committee about differences
between the two budgets and urge them to adopt the better version.
- Contact your own legislator and ask him or her to speak with
the Conference Committee members to support the better version
in areas of concern.
|
| June |
- Governor has 10 days to review the final budget and decide
if she/he wants to veto any line items or sections of the budget.
The Governor signs the budget with these changes.
|
- Contact Governor’s office and key people in the administration
to urge them to support (not veto) funding for critical programs.
|
| June |
- The legislature reviews the Governor’s vetoes and makes
override decisions It takes a 2/3 roll call vote in order to
override a veto.
- Overrides must be done before the legislature has ended its
formal session (3rd Wednesday in November in odd-numbered years/July
31 in even-number years.
|
- Review the Governor’s vetoes and contact legislators
to request that they override any vetoes that cut funding for
or otherwise alter critical programs.
|
| July 1st – Beginning of the new fiscal year (The legislature
often misses this deadline). |
- New budget signed and enacted.
|
|
