1. The Governor’s budget hearings are where the state budget process begins.
The Governor’s budget hearings serve as a launch point for the State’s budgeting process. All state departments, agencies and entities, including the University of Tennessee System, will lay out their funding requests for the state’s next budget year—requests that the Governor will ultimately weigh as he compiles his 2015-2016 budget proposal. That proposal ultimately will be presented to the legislature in late January or early February and can be amended or passed into law in its proposed form.
2. The Governor’s budget proposal is taken seriously by the Legislature.
In Tennessee’s recent history, the legislature typically has not made major modifications to the Governor’s proposed budget. In fact, last year the legislature did not pass a single substantive amendment modifying the Governor’s spending plan. The only amendments made were at the request of the Haslam Administration in light of dwindling state revenues. To put it frankly: Recent history and experience suggests that if you want your major priorities to be funded, they typically need to be included in the Governor’s proposed spending plan.
3. Last year’s revenue woes are likely to result in a conservatively crafted budget.
Tennessee’s last budget year closed with a $300 million revenue hole—a hole that may result in up to a 7 percent cut to state departments, agencies, and entities. In fact, at the Governor’s hearings, it is expected that each entity will detail what impact a 7 percent cut would have on its operation.
There is some good news in the state’s revenue numbers for the current fiscal year. General Fund revenue is roughly $91 million over projected levels at this point. But given last year’s mid-session revenue crisis where the Governor had to significantly alter his spending plan, we’re likely to see a more conservatively crafted budget to insulate against the possibility of revenues taking a turn for the worse.
4. There is mounting pressure from all sides.
The Governor is facing mounting pressure on both sides of the budget equation—there is mounting pressure to further cut state taxes, which will in turn limit the state’s ability to fund existing services; and there also is mounting spending pressures behind various state services whose needs have been building for a number of years. For higher education specifically, these needs include, but are not limited to, adequate state funding for the day-to-day operations of campuses, funding to improve academic quality and services to students, to maintain existing buildings, and to address aging infrastructure and growth through the funding of needed new facilities.
5. Higher education’s budget hearing is on December 5 at 2:30 P.M. CST.
You can tune in live to watch UT President Joe DiPietro lay out the University’s key priorities or check back here for coverage. To tune in live, click here.
