Last week, Governor Bryant, as required by law, released his budget recommendation for 2016. Bryant’s budget proposes a slight increase in spending over the current year. Despite slow economic recovery, state revenue for FY 2016 is projected to increase $166 million over current year revenue.
The table shows the funding sources Bryant recommends using to cover his budget. These sources include more than $5.6 billion in general fund revenue and more than $550 million in state support special funds. Additionally, Bryant proposes to hire more auditors at the Department of Revenue that would result in an additional $60 million in general fund revenue for the state.
Bryant recommendations also include spending almost $6.2 billion on state services and $78.7 million for a tax credit targeted for low and moderate income working families (see analysis of the tax credit here). The Governor’s proposed budget leaves about $419 million in the state’s reserves
Tomorrow, we will further examine and compare funding for key state service areas in the Governor’s budget including public education, community and junior colleges, public health and corrections.
