PROVIDENCE — The House Committee on Finance has scheduled a meeting on Dec. 9 to consider a revised fiscal 2021 state budget plan, with amendments to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s original proposal expected.
The announcement Monday afternoon comes after several weeks of discussions among House and Senate leaders, as well as Raimondo.
Last week, House Speaker-nominee Joseph Shekarchi, D-Warwick, told the Providence Business News he expected the budget would be adopted by Christmas.
If the key House committee adopts a budget recommendation, it would then go to the full House and the Senate.
The hearing starts at 5 p.m. Wednesday, will be held in Room 35 of the Rhode Island Statehouse, and will be broadcast live on Capitol TV.
Since Raimondo introduced her original $9.9 billion budget proposal in January, the state has been struck hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the government’s review process. The state is among just a few in the U.S. that have yet to adopt a spending plan for the fiscal year, which began July 1.
The impact of the pandemic has resulted in loss of tax and lottery revenue for the state, as well as increased expenses. The latest estimate of the operating deficit was $275 million, delivered in November by the House fiscal staff.
The budget, once adopted, would be applied retroactively. For the past six months, the state has operated using the previous fiscal year’s budget.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
