Oct. 1, 2007 — In a statement Saturday, Gov. John deJongh Jr. said he was concerned that budget bills passed by the Senate could lead to an unbalanced budget in fiscal year 2008 and leave some government workers' salaries unfunded.
DeJongh and senior staff, including Budget Director Debra Gottlieb and Finance Commissioner Claudette Watson-Anderson, began going over the budget bills Saturday. The majority were approved by the governor and the Senate will be formally advised of his actions on Monday, the statement said.
The administration's budget proposal provided an appropriation to the Housing Finance Authority (HFA) to cover Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation employees who would relocate from DHPR to HFA under proposed legislation. The Senate removed the increased funding to HFA but only funded DHPR at levels that would cover a new department of Sports, Parks and Recreation.
"This apparent error must be corrected and I will be speaking with members of the Senate in our effort to resolve the issue," DeJongh said Saturday.
The Office of Management and Budget is conducting a detailed analysis of the Senate's version of the budget ahead of another review meeting deJongh has scheduled for late Monday afternoon.
The FY2007 budget will be rolled over and go into effect at the start of the new fiscal year on Monday ,October 1. DeJongh has until October 10 to take final action on the bills received Friday at Government House, including the FY 2008 budget.
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