Programs run on money, especially health care. If you want to understand the government's priorities -- don't listen to speeches, don't look at bills, look at the budget. If policymakers are serious about something, it will be in the budget. One of the classic advocates' mistakes is to work for years getting a bill passed, only to find that it isn't implemented because the state didn't dedicate any money for it.

Connecticut’s state budget is $21.3 billion for the 2019-2020 fiscal year – that is $5,961.38 for every state resident. The budget defines how that money will be spent and where it won’t be spent. These are your tax dollars – you pay for the programs and you elect the people who make the decisions.

The state budget is not a far-removed, academic exercise. It affects your life and your health in very concrete and tangible ways. The state budget determines how much is spent on preparing for pandemics, hospitals, clinics for the uninsured, who will get HUSKY coverage and how much it will cost families, inspectors to ensure the quality of nursing homes and other facilities, licensing your doctor, rates paid for health care services, resources to help you navigate health care, testing for environmental hazards, spraying for mosquitoes carrying the West Nile Virus, schools to train providers, and a thousand other important issues that affect your personal health.

OK, budgets are boring. Most of us had to be dragged kicking and screaming into learning the budget process (“We are trying to save the world, why are you bothering me with numbers?”). But it’s easier than you think. It may seem complex, but that is only because so much of it is hidden from the public. Just knowing that secret is powerful.

The budget is the spending plan for Connecticut state government. There are two parts to the budget – spending (appropriations) and revenues (taxes, fees, federal reimbursements, etc.)

The budget itself is contained in a bill -- the “budget bill”. The budget bill contains the numbers, the dollar amounts, for state spending and revenues. But that only tells part of the story. A separate series of bills called “implementers” describe how the money is to be spent and how cuts are to be made.

The budget bill follows the same route through the legislature as other bills, with a few special twists.

In odd numbered years, the Governor and the General Assembly pass a two-year budget plan. But they make a lot of changes during even-numbered year sessions. The state’s fiscal year runs from July 1^st through June 30^th of the next year.

The annual budget cycle

The budget process is essentially year-round. In the summer and fall, agencies determine what they will need for the next fiscal year to continue their work, both to continue current service levels and “options” for program changes, cuts, or expansions. In late fall, these recommendations are sent to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM), the Governor’s budget office. OPM estimates what state revenues will be for the year, meets with agencies to review and modify their requests to fit with the administration’s priorities, and puts it all together into a proposal to the Governor. Early in February of the next year, the Governor submits his budget to the legislature.

The spending side of the Governor’s proposal then goes to the Appropriations Committee, the largest committee in the General Assembly. The budget is divided again by content area and sent to the Appropriations Subcommittees. For health care issues, the relevant Subcommittees are Health (budgets of the Departments of Public Health, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Veteran’s Affairs, and Developmental Services, Office of Health Strategy, and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) and Human Services (the Department of Social Services – covering Medicaid, HUSKY, and other services, as well as the Departments of Rehabilitation Services and of Children and Families). Just like other legislative committees, the full Appropriations Committee and each Subcommittee have two Co-Chairs and two Ranking Members, a Senator and a Representative each from the majority and minority parties of each house.

The tax and bonding side of the Governor's budget proposal goes to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee and its Subcommittees.

The committees hold public hearings on the budget by agency in February and March. They get input from agency officials, state contractors, health care providers, advocates, taxpayers and consumers. In March, the Subcommittees make recommendations to their full committee. Committee leaders work together with the legislature’s nonpartisan budget office, the Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA), to draft the final bills that are voted on by the full Appropriations and Revenue committees in April or May. The committee’s bills and all submitted public testimony are available to the public online.

Unlike the federal government, the state has to balance its books every year by law, it cannot build in a deficit. This means that the Appropriations Committee spending bottom line must equal the Finance Committee’s revenue estimates. Since they rarely do, legislative leaders must work with the Governor to balance the two, adjusting spending and/or changing revenues. The final budget bills are voted on by both houses of the General Assembly, usually very near the end of the session, and the bills go to the Governor. In some years, there has not been enough time to finish the budget before the Constitutional session end date and legislators had to come back in Special Session to work it out before the fiscal year begins July 1st.

Then everyone takes a breather for a couple of weeks before it begins again.

It changes all the time. During the year, the Finance Advisory Committee (FAC) can approve transfers of money within an agency to cover a deficiency. Medicaid almost always runs a deficiency and money often has to be "FACed" over from other parts of DSS' budget to cover it. The FAC includes the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Comptroller, and two Senate members and three House members (split between parties) of the Appropriations Committee. The legislature also passes a "deficiency bill" during the session to cover changes to the budget necessary to get through the current fiscal year.

During the fiscal year, if the state is facing unexpected shortfalls that cannot be accommodated through transfers, the Governor has the authority to cut individual budget line items up to 5% (not to exceed 3% of the total General Fund) without legislative approval. The FAC can approve slightly larger cuts. Significantly larger cuts need the approval of the full General Assembly. Cuts through the General Assembly and the FAC happen in public processes; the Governor’s cuts do not.

Surpluses from a prior year, if they are not spent, go to replenish the Rainy Day Fund (see below) and, after that is filled, to reduce the state’s debt. However, many years after the Rainy Day fund is filled completely, much of the remaining surpluses have been spent.

Over 90% of the state's money goes through the General Fund -- what most people call the budget. Almost all funding for health care comes from the General Fund. The Insurance Department is financed through a separate fund of about $100 million collected in fees from insurers.

Connecticut gets about $9 billion in federal funds administered through state government each year. A large part of this comes as reimbursement for Connecticut’s Medicaid and HUSKY spending that goes back into the state’s budget. The state has wide authority to administer these programs, within federal guidelines, subject to some oversight by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some federal money comes to the state as block grants that require no state matching funds. Block grants are administered by the state for various purposes including public health and maternal and child health. Spending plans for block grants must be approved by the relevant legislative committees which hold public hearings on the plans.

Fiscal notes are brief reports drafted by OFA for every bill and amendment that is considered by either House of the General Assembly. Fiscal notes estimate the costs or savings to the state and municipalities if the measure passed. A high cost fiscal note is a common way to kill a bill. Some OFA analysts are thoughtful and through in their estimates, but some take the affected agency’s figure at face value. Advocates can try to provide OFA with data supporting their case, but there is little that can done about bad fiscal notes.

The Rainy Day Fund is a hedge against bad economic times. Any end of year surplus goes to replenish the Rainy Day Fund first. As of April 2020, it holds over $2 billion to cover unanticipated deficits. However the state expects significant deficits because of a recession that will empty the fund in the next two years.

The 28th amendment to the Connecticut constitution limits growth in state spending to the greater of the five-year average increase in either Connecticut’s personal income or inflation. The cap passed in November 1992, as part of the deal to institute an income tax. The idea was to ensure that policymakers do not overspend during good economic times. Over the surpluses of the late 1990’s it largely worked. Unfortunately, the flip side of that success is that many worthy investments in Connecticut’s health that the state could afford, did not happen. More recently policymakers have exempted large sections of the budget from the cap, including the part of Medicaid spending that is reimbursed by the federal government.

Bonding is the state's borrowing that is intended for long term costs, such as land acquisition, economic development projects, building construction and repair. Connecticut borrowed about $3.8 billion in Fiscal Year 2019 in new bonds. In the past, a good deal of bonding was not spent on long-term investments, but to finance operating expenses. This is analogous to putting groceries on a credit card and not paying off the balance. Recently policymakers have moved to a “debt diet” to lower the state’s debt levels.

Each year, plans for bonded projects are found in the “bonding package” of bills from the Bonding Subcommittee of the Finance Committee. The Subcommittee holds public hearings on proposed items. The bonding package is usually voted on by the full General Assembly near the end of the session. However, even if a project is in a bond bill that passes, it must still be authorized for spending by the Bond Commission. The Commission includes the Governor, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney General, OPM Secretary, Commissioner of Administrative Services, and the legislative Finance Committee, Co-Chairs and Ranking Members. The Bond Commission usually meets monthly. If a project doesn’t get on the agenda, it doesn’t come up for a vote, and it doesn’t get funded. For more on the bonding process and to search Bond Commission agenda items, visit the Comptroller’s Bond Allocation Database linked below.

The budget implementer bills describe a lot of the policies. The “back of the budget” is language literally at the back of the budget bill describing how parts of the budget are to be implemented. After the budget passes each year, OFA publishes it in a big book (400 to 700 pages) that describes the budget in detail including narrative language about changes in policy. Each year, the Office of State Comptroller publishes several reports on the state of the state’s finances that are required by statute.

The Governor is the primary policymaker influencing the state budget. His office is involved throughout the process, from proposal to implementation. The Governor is popularly elected by the voters every four years.

The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) is the Executive branch’s budget office, answering to the Governor. The Governor appoints the Secretary of OPM, with approval from the legislative Executive & Legislative Nominations Committee. OPM gathers agency budget requests, estimates revenues for the state, combines them in accordance with the Governor’s policy priorities and drafts the Governor’s budget proposal each year. None of these steps are part of a public process. OPM also administers some programs and dispenses grants for various purposes.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis (OFA) is the legislature’s budget office, working closely with the Appropriations and Finance committees. OFA drafts the final budget bills that are passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. Parts of the legislature’s budget process are public. Analysts are assigned by agency and subject area. OFA analysts are nonpartisan state employees who answer to the Office of Legislative Management. OFA also drafts fiscal notes for potential legislation estimating costs or savings to the state and municipalities upon passage.

The State Comptroller is the state’s chief financial officer and is in charge of keeping the state’s books. The Comptroller publishes a “monthly letter” outlining the financial status of the state. The office also publishes year-end reports required by statute as well as a “popular report” to inform the public about the state’s financial and economic picture. The Comptroller is popularly elected by the voters every four years.

The State Treasurer administers the state’s $34 billion investment portfolio, including retirement and trust funds for state employees and teachers. The Treasurer is also popularly elected every four years.

The Auditors of Public Accounts assess the operations and effectiveness of state government. The two state Auditors, one Republican and one Democrat, are appointed by the legislature. The Auditors primarily check programs for legal compliance.

Influencing the budget is not very different from influencing other legislation.

• Prepare. Learn what is spent now, how it is spent, and who oversees the spending. If you want to propose a new program, estimate how much it will cost. Look at other states, see if Connecticut funds anything similar, look for an OFA fiscal note on a similar program, and get estimates from researchers and advocacy organizations. Be creative.
• Meet with, write and call legislators, the Governor and any agency involved. Try to get your idea included in the agency's budget options sent to the Governor in the fall.
• Testify and/or submit written testimony to the Appropriations Subcommittee's public hearing on your part of the budget. Attend the full Committee hearing when the appropriate agency head testifies.
• Although it sounds impossible, monitor the backroom budget negotiations. It isn't as hard as you might think. If your issue is high profile, newspapers and other media may cover what is happening. If you are a member of or working with a group that has hired a professional lobbyist, they may be able to track your issue. If you have formed a relationship with a legislator, staffer or someone at an agency, they may be able to let you know what is happening.
• Write a letter to the Editor or an OP-ED about your proposal.
• Always remember to thank anyone who helps you at any stage. Take a moment to hand write a note - it makes a difference.
• Understand that budgets are always tight, even in good years. Advocacy is a long-term proposition. It is rare for anything to change overnight (I actually find that comforting most of the time.)