A common joke was heard rattling around the committee rooms of the statehouse cleared budget bills for next week: “There’s nowhere else I’d rather spend my Friday night.”
The Senate and Assembly budget committees each met at 8 p.m. on Friday (in reality, a bit after that) to approve the state’s annual budget, clearing the way for a floor vote on Monday. The governor must sign the budget by July 1, or the state government shuts down. And, like every other year, legislators expressed hope that this would be the year the budget is finished efficiently, with plenty of time to spare. But, like every other year, much of the work came down to the last minute.
After days of uncertainty over when the public could read and testify on the budget deal reached this week, people involved, especially Republicans and advocates, expressed frustration when they learned it would be at 8 p.m. on a Friday.
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