PROVIDENCE – Unlike year’s past, Rhode Island lawmakers say budget deliberations on Thursday will not go too long, regardless of a vote.
The R.I. House of Representatives is expected to consider the proposed fiscal 2018 state budget totaling $9.2 billion beginning at 2 p.m.
In year’s past, budget hearings on the House floor have lasted between a few hours and multiple days, making it difficult to predict how long the state’s most expensive piece of legislation will be considered.
R.I. House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, however, said deliberations this year will not go beyond 10 p.m. on any day.
“Going into our floor debate, we will not be there any later than 10 o’clock on any given evening,” he told reporters last week. “If I don’t think we can finish by then, I’ll call it quits by roughly 9 o’clock.”
Budget debates in year’s past have lasted into early morning hours. The late-night decision making has evoked criticism from budget watchers and interested voters, who argue it’s an improper time to be making such important votes.
And while the $9.2 billion state budget passed the R.I. House Finance Committee at nearly 1 a.m. last Friday, Mattiello says he wants to stay away from such action on the House floor.
“We will do business during regular business hours, so our citizens can view it conveniently,” he said.
The House budget, led by Democrats, faces about 40 budget amendments. But not all amendments will be heard, as some will be duplicative and others may never be proposed, according Larry Berman, spokesman for Mattiello.
“The speaker is confident the budget will pass overwhelming,” Berman said, adding that it’s difficult to know exactly how long it would take to reach a vote.
This year’s budget highlights include a $26 million cut to the so-called car tax, an initiative backed by Mattiello, and about $3.3 million in new spending for a scaled-back, tuition-free college program backed by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo.
State lawmakers, however, are dealing with an estimated $134 million budget deficit for fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018, which has required broad-based cuts, curbed spending and the transfer of millions to the state budget from quasi-public agencies.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
