The submission of a budget plan by the Governor on January 27, 1999 marked
the beginning of the budget policymaking process for State Fiscal Year (SFY)
1999-2000. Following the release of the Executive Budget, the fiscal committees
of the legislature (the Senate Committee on Finance and the Assembly Committee
on Ways and Means) held joint hearings. Agency Commissioners and the public
at large were invited to testify on the Executive Budget.
In the month of February, nine separate hearings on all aspects of the budget proposal were held. More than two dozen agency Commissioners testified at the hearings. More than one hundred organizational representatives spoke on behalf of their constituencies. In addition, individual Members of the Legislature held town meetings, met with constituents, and read correspondence regarding the budget submission.
At the beginning of the month of March, the Majority and Minority staffs of the Senate Finance Committee and of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means produced economic and receipts forecasts for consideration at a Consensus Economic and Revenue Conference. The Consensus Conference conveners are the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, the ranking Minority Member of the Senate Finance Committee, the ranking Minority Member of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means, and the Director of the Division of the Budget. The Consensus Conference also heard presentations from a distinguished panel of economists regarding the outlook for the upcoming fiscal year. The Secretaries of Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means, together with the Director of the Division of the Budget, produced a report outlining the consensus economic outlook and provided a range of forecasts for receipts.
The Report that follows initially presents a summary of the consensus economic outlook and revenue overview. Following the receipts projections, there is an agency by agency description of the New York State Assembly Majority's proposed SFY 1999-2000 Budget. The Report presents the Majority Budget in plain language.
In commenting upon the multiple appropriation bills in the Executive budget submission, it is initially noted that many provisions thereof would amend or circumvent existing State law. There is a substantial body of case law concerning the unconstitutionality of the inclusion of such provisions in multiple appropriation bills. Any actions proposed with regard to any provisions of the Executive submission without specific and repeated comment as to their constitutionality does not indicate acquiescence by the Assembly that such provisions or the submission itself is constitutional.