This year’s state legislative session has reached the 90-day mark, and the deadline to pass a new budget is less than three months away.
According to legislators, the 100-day mark usually signifies the end of preliminary budget work. But, with a newly-found budget surplus of $5.3 billion, Republican state Sen. TJ Shope says a lot of work is ahead.
“The reality right now is that we have a lot of money, and it’s no surprise to those of us who have been following the state’s economy right now,” said Shope.
Shope says legislators are bracing for long nights working with numbers, and debates on where to spend the large surplus.
“It’s an opportunity for us to vet some of these things, really prioritize, and hopefully in the coming weeks, we’ll be able to do that,” said Shope.
The deadline to pass a new state budget is June 30.
