Last week, the Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) was forced to reduce the budget forecast by an additional $60 million, dealing another enormous blow to the current budgetary process within the Senate. Since the House passed its version of the budget in March, $127 million has been further reduced from the total budget, forcing the Senate Finance Committee to make very difficult decisions in order to balance the budget. These new cuts are attributed to huge accounting and communication errors made by the Department of Health & Human Services, the Department of Revenue and the Treasurer's Office.

Despite the difficulties, the Finance Committee approved its version of the bill for the coming year. Committee staff continues to work on finalizing the documents illustrating exactly where the cuts will be taken, however, SCMA has been told that provider rates remain at their current levels, despite the immense cut to health agencies and programs. However, we remain cautious until finalized documents are released.

The Committee determined part of the shortfall could be covered by increased enforcement collections at the Department of Revenue and from increased court fees.

In order to make up the additional losses due to the errors, an equal percentage was cut from the House-passed version of the budget. While funding going directly to students in the classroom was held harmless, other areas must make the following cuts:

• $25.8 million - Health & Human Services
• $10.3 million - Corrections & Public Safety
• $10.1 million - Higher Education
• $8.4 million - K-12 Education
• $4.2 million - Constitutional/Administrative
• $1.9 million - Economic Development and Natural Resources
The bill will now move ahead to the full Senate where debate is expected to be much more contentious.