On Wednesday, the Senate Ways & Means and House Appropriations committees passed the 2018 supplemental operating budgets proposed by their respective chairs on Monday and Tuesday. Each committee made amendments to the proposals, but the broad strokes of the proposals remain the same.

For more on the original proposals, see here, here, here, and here.

Amendments adopted by the House Appropriations Committee increase near general fund–state plus opportunity pathways (NGFS+) spending in its original proposal by $8.2 million. Including these changes, the House Appropriations budget would increase NGFS+ spending by $385.6 million over the enacted 2017–19 budget. New 2017–19 NGFS+ spending would total $44.094 billion.

An updated outlook shows that the unrestricted NGFS+ ending balance in the House Appropriations budget would be $2.249 billion in 2017–19 and $420 million in 2019–21.

Spending amendments adopted by the Senate Ways & Means Committee were similarly modest. They increase the NGFS+ spending of its original proposal by $9.0 million. Including this spending, the Senate committee budget would increase NGFS+ spending by $1.114 billion over the enacted 2017–19 budget. New 2017–19 NGFS+ spending would total $44.822 billion.

The Senate Ways & Means Committee also amended and passed on Wednesday the bill that would reduce state property taxes and transfer funds from the budget stabilization account (BSA, or rainy day fund) to the general fund. As amended, SSB 6614 would reduce the state property tax rate to $2.35 per $1,000 of assessed value in calendar year 2018. (Originally, SB 6614 would have reduced the rate to $2.39/$1,000 in CY 2019.) Additionally, SSB 6614 would require the transfer of $228.0 million from the BSA to the GFS in 2017–19 and $203.0 million in 2019–21, to pay for the tax rate reduction. (Originally, SB 6614 would have transferred $213.0 million in 2017–19 and $190.0 million in 2019-21.)

An updated outlook for the Senate committee budget has not yet been posted.

The chart below shows the NGFS+ policy changes to the 2017–19 budget, as passed out of committee. Note that both the House and the Senate committees would create dedicated accounts to house the fines that have been accruing in the McCleary case. The House committee version (the basic education account) would get $105.2 million from the general fund, and it would all be appropriated for basic education items. The Senate committee version (dedicated McCleary penalty account) would be appropriated $103.8 million. The Senate committee would then use $25.2 million of the account to increase the special education multiplier. The chart shows these two non-NGFS+ accounts separately. (They’re so closely related to the NGFS+ that it made sense to include them.)

The full House and Senate are expected to vote on the budgets today.