State Senator Toni Nathaniel Harp
July 20, 2009
Harp, Daily Lead Senate Veto Override to Require Consensus Revenue Forecasting
State Senators Toni N. Harp (D-New Haven) and Eileen M. Daily (D-Westbrook), Senate chairs of the legislature’s Appropriations and Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committees, respectively, today earned a Senate override of a gubernatorial veto of the so-called consensus revenue forecasting bill. With responsibility for the two budget committees, Senators Harp and Daily said the inability to agree on revenue estimates dramatically delayed and complicated the budget process this year; they say mandatory consensus on revenue forecasts will help accelerate and streamline the process by which future budgets are negotiated and decided.
Today’s veto override vote was 24-12; the House of Representatives was expected to vote later today.
“We constantly seek to improve the budget process, whether it’s with a new software package we purchase, additional reporting requirements, or earlier committee deadlines, and I see this call for consensus revenue forecasting as an extension of that effort,” Senator Daily said. “The urgent need for this became undeniable this year when the deficit projections varied by more than $2.5 billion. It was as if the two sides were working on the budget of two entirely different states.”
Senator Harp said the bill includes a failsafe option for the state comptroller’s office to provide consensus revenue estimates when the governor’s Office of Policy and Management and the legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis cannot agree on revenue projections. In that manner all parties would still have one single bottom line to work toward to better serve the residents of Connecticut.
“The clear advantages of this new system would include simplified and more efficient budget-building as a direct result of an agreed-upon starting point and finish line, and it would also help everyone keep current with revenue trends and performance so adjustments can be made more accurately if and when a budget begins to fall out of balance,” Senator Harp said. “I’m particularly confident about the role of the comptroller’s office as arbiter of disputed forecasts, given the important administrative and executive budget-related functions of that office.”
Consensus revenue forecasting is used by 26 states to streamline their budgeting efforts and the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting recommends the process coast-to-coast. Eight of the nine states with the very highest bond ratings credit consensus forecasting for those high bond ratings.
|
Senator Harp’s |
Listing of Senator Harp’s recent press releases and a Press Kit with official head shots and bio. |
Press Aide Laurence Grotheer |
