Dissecting the state budget bill is a little like dissecting in high school biology lab – you’re not always sure what you’re looking at; it’s kind of messy; and there are some smelly parts.
But the state budget mysteries were unlocked when KSBA Governmental Relations Director Eric Kennedy took his scalpel to the document for an overflow crowd during KSBA’s July 13-14 Summer Leadership Institute in Lexington. It was the first time such a session had been offered and it’s safe to say many board members were surprised as Kennedy explained the legislative process that goes into passing the state’s budget every two years, and the innards of the budget itself.
“I was surprised by how complex the whole process is,” longtime Laurel County school board member Charles “Bud” Stuber said afterward. “I don’t think anybody truly understands it.”
(l-r) Laurel County school board member Charles “Bud” Stuber, Berea Independent board member
Will Bondurant and Martin County board Chair Kathleen Price look over the state budget bill during
KSBA Governmental Relations Director Eric Kennedy’s clinic session on dissecting that document.
Kennedy noted that the budget bill looks so complex that the general public and even some legislators are hesitant to dig into it. He took board members through the entire process, focusing in particular on the portions dealing with education, explaining how the different versions of the budget and funding requests are hammered out into a final product. The budget bill carries the force of law but is temporary, in effect for only its two-year span. It also does not include revenue-raising measures, which are in a separate bill, though “those two bills depend on one another,” he said.
When examining the portion of the budget bill that outlines public education funding, Kennedy said board members should look at:
• Part I – The operating budget, which provides information on funding for SEEK, the Teachers’ Retirement System and the School Facilities Construction Commission.
• Part II – The portion covering capital projects, which contains funding for technology and SFFC offers of assistance.
• Part III – General provisions, where the devil is in the details, sometimes includes mandates to the education department or school districts. This is where, for example, the initial proposed budget this year included a mandate ordering districts to reduce their spending down to specific MUNIS codes. While that proposal was not in the final enacted budget, this section of the final bill does contain a mandate for districts to report their administrative expenses.
• Part IV -- Budget reduction language, which outlines what and where agencies must cut if there is a state budget shortfall – and how SEEK may or may not be protected from that process.
Using real examples from the current and past state budgets, Kennedy illustrated how provisions in the budget, at least for its duration, can override other laws in a concept called “notwithstanding.”
That notion blew away Stuber, who said it amounts to saying “Sorry, Charlie” to the laws it is overriding.
“There are dozens of notwithstanding clauses in a budget bill,” Kennedy noted. In fact, a budget bill routinely includes language noting that, by law, budget provisions supersede any conflicting statutes just in case budget drafters neglect to include a specific “notwithstanding” provision. By law and practice, the state budget director and finance secretary interpret the budget in such cases of conflict.
After the session, Laurel County board member John Begley said he learned “how easy it is to change the (state) budget. The feeling you get is this is the budget for two years and that’s what it is, and turns out, it’s pretty easy to change.”
Barbourville Independent school board member Dr. Jason Reeves said he was most surprised that, “Something that’s final isn’t always final – there’s always an exception and there’s always something out there that maybe we don’t understand as board members can happen or take place that can change an outcome. It makes us have to think very carefully, especially from a budget perspective, when we’re looking at costs or special projects."