Legislative Leaders Reach Agreement on State Budget Deal

Assembly Speaker Vos and Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald announced this morning that they have come to an agreement on the budget bill.  However, Senator Fitzgerald says that he still does not have the votes to pass the budget. 

The Joint Finance Committee will meet Thursday to finish voting on the Department of Revenue’s budget as well as transportation funding and their final “999 motion.”  Once the budget is passed by the Joint Finance Committee, the Assembly will take up the budget bill either next Tuesday or Wednesday.

The Bucks Arena funding will be pulled from the budget and taken up as a separate bill. The repeal of the state’s prevailing wage law won’t be added to the budget, and will continue to be discussed as a separate piece of legislation, though Speaker Vos said the Assembly will vote on the prevailing wage bill the same day they vote on the budget.  Transportation bonding will be reduced and money will be provided in the budget to study ways to increase transportation revenue sources, such as tolls.