Government

No More Major Changes: FY 2027 Budget Advances Under Closed Rule as Senators Warn of Tight Finances

The Fiscal Year 2027 budget is headed toward a final Senate vote with its financial structure largely locked in after the Committee on Rules and Judiciary advanced the spending measures Wednesday under a closed rule, preventing substantive amendments once the package reaches the floor. The Legislature’s own budget process provides for FY budget bills to move from the Budget, Appropriations and Finance Committee through Rules and Judiciary and then to the full body under closed rule. The Rules Committee’s jurisdiction specifically defines that procedure as prohibiting substantive amendments during floor consideration. Sen. Novelle Francis Jr., who chaired the 21 budget hearings conducted over the summer, said the restriction is intended to prevent “any slippage or movement in terms of the numbers that have been derived collectively by the Budget Appropriations and Finance Committee.” Wednesday’s Rules Committee meeting marked the next stage of a budget process that moved through the...