Highlights of the 2019 General Assembly Session: 2020 Enacted Budget and Legislation

Overview

The 2020 budget (“the budget”) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019 totals $9.971 billion:

Expenditures by Revenue Type
FY2020 Budgeted Amounts
FY2020 Budgeted Percentages

General Revenues

 $4,077,594,991

40.9%

Federal Funds

 $3,325,364,065

33.4%

Other Funds

 $2,256,279,162

22.6%

Restricted Receipts

 $311,382,120

3.1%

Total

 $9,970,620,338

100%

General Revenues include personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, sales taxes, and use fees. Federal Funds include, among other things, matching funds for Medicaid expenses. Other Funds include lottery proceeds, and Restricted Receipts direct collected fees to specific projects or departments.

The enacted budget is $40.6 million higher than the $9.93 billion budget proposed by the Governor in January. Lawmakers had an additional $2.2 million to work with as a result of slightly greater revenue projections identified by the May Revenue Estimating Conference.

The budget amends state law to tighten General Assembly oversight of agency expenditures, including requiring agencies to file monthly spending reports if quarterly reports show expenditures in excess of appropriated amounts. The amendment also prohibits payments for additional staff, contracts, or purchases for any department anticipated to overspend its annual appropriation “unless necessitated by immediate health and safety reasons.” This new requirement will need to be monitored to determine the actual impact when there are unforeseen increases in the number of children, families, people with disabilities, and others who rely on services from various state agencies.

Enacted legislation and the annual budget together reveal our state government’s priorities and values. The following sections describe some of these budgetary and legislative priorities in matters of Healthcare, Early Learning and K-12, Education and Workforce for Adults, Support for Workers and Families, Affordable Housing, Revenue Changes, and Economic Development.

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