Previous Story
Joint panel to finally tackle FY05 budget
|
Posted on Nov 12 2004
The legislative conference committee on budget will finally meet Monday to tackle the fiscal year 2005 spending plan.
House majority floor leader and House conference committee chair Oscar M. Babauta, informed his Senate counterpart, Sen. Joseph Mendiola, in a letter yesterday about their first meeting at 10:30am on Nov. 15.
Babauta said the House panel has met and is now ready to discuss their budget concerns with the Senate.
Earlier, Mendiola told the House that the Senate committee has been waiting for the House members to initiate the call on the matter.
The conference committee is tasked to reconcile differences in budget priorities, funding sources, and fund allocation. Each panel is composed of six members.
The Babauta administration had submitted a $226 million budget request for FY 2005, including a $13-million Fiscal Integrated Plan that proposes a series of tax increases and fee hikes.
The House rejected the IFP proposal and approved a $212.7 million budget for the new fiscal year, which is already on its second month.
The Senate then amended the House-approved bill, raising the figure to $217.7 million in consideration of $5.1 million in new revenue projection submitted by the Executive Branch.
The Legislature also received another $1.5 million in new revenue projection, which is now subject to the conference committee’s consideration.
The $6.6 million in projected additional revenues would come from new collections coming from the recently enacted tax amnesty and tax enhancement laws, and the increased labor registration fee for nonresident workers.
Mendiola had said that the Senate favors putting the additional $1.5 million funding to the Public School System’s budget for FY05, increasing the agency’s total budget to over $38 million. PSS is currently budgeted at $37.2 million.
The conference committee is composed of the following House members: representatives Babauta, Norman S. Palacios, Justo S. Quitugua, Crispin Ogo, Arnold Palacios, and Jesus Attao.
The Senate panel is composed of senators Mendiola, Henry H. San Nicolas, Luis P. Crisostimo, Thomas P. Villagomez, Diego M. Songao, and Paul A. Manglona.
