Call to Order and Roll Call
The 5th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue was held on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 1:00 PM, in Room 154 of the Capitol Annex. Representative Steven Rudy, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Christian McDaniel, Co-Chair; Representative Steven Rudy, Co-Chair; Senators Ralph Alvarado, Danny Carroll, Rick Girdler, Morgan McGarvey, Gerald A. Neal, Dennis Parrett, Wil Schroder, Brandon Smith, Robin L. Webb, Stephen West, and Max Wise; Representatives Rocky Adkins, Myron Dossett, Ken Fleming, Jeff Greer, David Hale, Brian Linder, Donna Mayfield, Suzanne Miles, Jason Nemes, Phillip Pratt, Jody Richards, Sal Santoro, Arnold Simpson, Jim Stewart III, James Tipton, Ken Upchurch, Jim Wayne, Russell Webber, Susan Westrom, and Jill York.
Guests: John Chilton, State Budget Director; Greg Harkenrider, Deputy Executive Director, Office of the State Budget Director; Michael Jones, Governor’s Office for Policy Research.
LRC Staff: Jennifer Hays, Cynthia Brown, Amit Shanker, Hannah Walker, Charlotte Quarles, and Jennifer Beeler.
Approval of the Minutes
Senator Alvarado made a motion, seconded by Representative Santoro, to approve the minutes of the September 28, 2017 meeting. The motion carried by voice vote.
Presentation regarding the Consensus Forecasting Group meeting and the Administration’s response
John Chilton, State Budget Director and Greg Harkenrider, Deputy Executive Director, Office of the State Budget Director gave an update since the July 2017 A&R meeting.
Mr. Harkenrider updated the committee on the new revenue estimates from the Consensus Forecasting Group (CFG). FY 2017 ended with a $138.5 million General Fund shortfall. After the CFG met in August, there was an estimated $206.2 million FY 2018 shortfall. Governor Bevin put Cabinets on alert that budget cuts were imminent and asked for reduction plans.
He explained that the CFG met again in October for preliminary budget estimates and an official revision to FY 2018 General Fund enacted estimate. He reported that the shortfall would be $155.6 million.
Mr. Harkenrider concluded with multiple slides pertaining to projections on revenue for the next fiscal year and what the outlook would be for the Commonwealth.
In response to a question from Chairman Rudy, Director Chilton explained that all Cabinets were told to develop a plan to reduce spending during this fiscal year in anticipation of the $200 million shortfall. All agencies have presented plans, but there are additional questions on where expenditures might be cut.
In response to a question from Chairman Rudy, Director Chilton stated that the agencies have been directed to include the spending reductions in the upcoming budget plans.
With no further business before the committee, the meeting was adjourned.