Legislature Announces Joint Budget Hearing Schedule

Senate Finance Committee Chair Catharine M. Young and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Helen E. Weinstein today announced the Joint Legislative Hearing Schedule on the 2018-2019 Executive Budget proposal.

These hearings, each of which focuses on a programmatic area, are intended to provide the appropriate legislative committees with public input on the Executive Budget proposal. The hearings will be available for viewing on the Senate and Assembly websites. The Legislative Channel (on cable systems throughout the state) also will carry the proceedings, which will be preempted when the houses are in session. At the conclusion of the legislative deliberations, the channel will resume televised coverage of the hearings.

In accordance with the schedule, the hearings will commence on Tuesday, January 23, and conclude on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. The respective state agency or department heads will begin testimony each day, followed by witnesses who have signed up to testify on that area of the budget. Those that have signed up to testify must limit comments to no more than 10 minutes.

Requests to testify must be made by contacting the appropriate person listed on the schedule no later than the close of business, two business days prior to the respective hearing.

New for 2018: Witnesses scheduled by the committees to testify in person are required to send a copy of their prepared testimony via email at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing to both schnall@nysenate.gov and to wamchair@nyassembly.gov, and must provide 50 copies of their testimony on the day of the hearing. Witnesses also are encouraged to summarize their key points and submit the rest of their testimony in writing only.

Due to time constraints related to provisions of the New York State Constitution concerning the approval of the state budget by April 1st, only a limited number of witnesses can be accommodated at any given hearing. However, any party may still provide written testimony to the committees at the above email addresses, at any time up until seven (7) days after the date of the hearing.

The agency and the departmental portion of the hearings are provided for in Article 7, Section 3 of the Constitution and Article 2, Section 31 of the Legislative Law. The state Legislature is also soliciting public comment on the proposed budget pursuant to Article 2, Section 32-a of the Legislative Law.

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2018-2019 Joint Legislative Budget Public Hearings Schedule

(Hearings to be held in Hearing Room B, Legislative Office Building, Albany)