April 21, 2009 08:22 PM UTC

Special Session on Budget? Maybe Not

•  
• by: Colorado Pols

From The Denver Post:

There’s been lots of speculation about whether the legislature will be coming back into session after the June 20 economic forecast, which could show that state revenues have cratered further and the budget has to be re-balanced.

Some folks at the Capitol have guessed a special session would come the week after the June forecast (which is actually expected on the 19th, a Friday). But House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann, D-Louisville, says there could be a workaround for the whole summer session problem.

“We might not have to come back for special session,” Weissmann said. “We are going to move a bill through the process that allows the JBC (Joint Budget Committee), with approval of the Executive Committee to readjust the budget if the revenue estimate is within $150 million. Like other off-session changes, those would have to be approved by the entire legislature in January.

“If we do have to come back for special session, my guess is that it would not be any earlier than July 13. The June revenue estimate comes out on the 19th or the 22nd.

Weissmann’s suggestion makes a lot of sense. The folks on the JBC spend the entire year poring over the budget; they know the numbers better than all the rest of the legislators, and with good reason.