by Elizabeth Hewitt vtdigger.org As the Senate Appropriations Committee hones in on a final version of the General Fund budget package for fiscal year 2016, things are tight.“Our options are very, very limited,” SenatorJane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, said Friday.The committee aims to pass the budget bill out on Monday, and plans to get the bill through the Senate by the end of next week. The House General Fund budget totaled $1.47 billion.
But committee members still have decisions to make, and Kitchel said the fate of H.490 depends on what the Senate Finance Committee does with the revenue package.
Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, (left) and Sen. Alice Nitka, D-Windsor. Photo by Elizabeth Hewitt/VTDigger“I think we really need to keep saying that this budget does rely on the need to raise some additional revenues,” Kitchel said.
As the committee combed through the bill, lawmakers made a wish list of items that are slated for cuts that they would like to fund. The list, which includes funding for Working Lands, Legal Aid, new funding for a child advocate position proposed under the child protection reform bill, among a number of other programs, totals more than $1.5 million.
The committee is looking at ways to find additional funds, including savings in Liquor Control and Legislative Council, but the current list, which is still in draft form, would raise less than $300,000.
Senators have yet to decide whether to accept some of the items that the House Appropriations Committee salvaged from cuts — including the $425,000 “bridge” funding that would help keep two public safety answering points open through September.
The committee adopted a dozen amendments from the Judiciary Committee Thursday. The judiciary branch recommended much of the language in an effort to help find structural savings. The measures include:
· Remove the grandfathering requirement that allows side judges in four counties to hear small claims actions;
· Commissioning a report on security budgets at county courthouses;
· Changing policies around delivering summonses, orders and warrants when someone fails to attend a preliminary hearing.
Senate President Pro Tem Sen. John Campbell, D-Quechee, said he is pleased with the committee’s work, and he expects the Senate will be on track to get the bill through the House by the end of the week.
“We’re being extremely diligent in our work,” Campbell said.