Joint Budget Full Of Fireworks (updated)

This is the time of the session that the Joint Budget Committee gets particularly interesting. With about two weeks remaining (maybe more, according to some sources), state lawmakers are hammering out several important budget parameters.

Jason Tolbert with our content partner, The Tolbert Report, references two items on Wednesday’s Joint Budget Committee agenda certain to cause fireworks.

First, there will be a legislative attempt to pull excess money from a fund tied to the Commissioner of State Lands office, which we alluded to on Tuesday.

Roughly $7.65 million could be extracted from the account for the following projects:

• $4 million for HB 1118 by Rep. Tracy Pennartz (D-Fort Smith) to create an investment tax credit for development in downtown areas.
• $2.9 million for the Mid-South Community College’s ADTEC program located in Rep. Keith Ingram’s (D-West Memphis) district.
• $200,000 for a pilot program that provides athletic trainers for public school athletic programs.
• $200,000 for the Hemingway-Pfeifer House in Piggott, the Tenant Farmers Museum in Tyronza, and the Lakeport Plantation in Lake Village, all under ASU’s heritage programs.
• $200,000 for the Nanotechnology Center at UALR.
• $150,000 for UAMS’ Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape, and Domestic Violence.

Tolbert notes that another Joint Budget item will include a transfer of funds from the Secretary of State’s office to the Department of Finance & Administration. The request would move several positions and Board of Apportionment expenses totaling $679,111 for FY 2011 and $844,987 for FY 2012 to DF&A.

This comes on the heels of last week’s apportionment board meeting where questions were raised about discretionary spending conducting by Secretary of State Mark Martin, the only Republican on the three-member redistricting panel.

A final item to watch on the Joint Budget agenda involves a 27th pay period for state employees. This one-time expense, which has occurred as a result of extra paydays accumulating over the course of years, can no longer be deferred.

Gov. Beebe told reporters on Tuesday that it must be addressed this session and he’s not happy about it.

"If I could push it off, I would," Beebe said, emphasizing that he was adamantly against the money coming out of general revenue.

Beebe contends that the money can come from General Improvement Fund (GIF) monies, which are typically spent on one-time expenses. GIF is money collected and set aside from interest accrued on state treasury funds and surpluses or unexpended balances from state agencies and offices at the end of the fiscal year (June 30).

Typically, that money is set aside and can be earmarked for use by the executive and legislative branches.

UPDATE: In the end, the fireworks fizzled.  Three controversial items on Wednesday’s Joint Budget Committee led to little discussion.

The measure to pull funds from the Commissioner of State Lands office, HB 1123 by Rep. Keith Ingram, was pulled down in committee today and re-referred to the Special Language Committee.

Ingram said he had spoken with Gov. Beebe and decided, "The Governor convinced me that there are more pressing issues." It was not clear what the next move may be for the legislation that seeded a number of local projects and a tax break.

Another controversial item on the Joint Budget agenda, a Governor’s letter to transfer Board of Apportionment funds from the Secretary of State’s budget to the Dept. of Finance and Administration was passed over, deferring it to a later date.

The final item that was certain to stir debate involved the 27th pay period for state employees. In short, the state pays employees on a bi-weekly basis. That leaves employees a payday short every year and after a period of years, the debt accumulates.

DF&A officials said that the state must pay for the accumulated balance, which is an estimated $23.5 million, by June 2012.

After quizzing DF&A leaders, legislators voted to hold SB 476, which is the funding bill to expense the 27th pay period.