While everyone is focused on the upcoming November 4th elections, Minnesota’s Executive Branch is quietly assembling budget recommendations for the FY 2016-2017 biennium. These recommendations ultimately will be presented to the Legislature for consideration and acted upon. The timeline with key dates can be found below.
Specific budget instructions can be found on the Minnesota Management and Budget website at http://mn.gov/mmb/budget/budget-instructions/
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Date
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Significance of Date
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September to Late-October 2014
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Each agency will engage in its own decision-making process during this time. Each will take the budget numbers provided by Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) and develop a budget that will be submitted to MMB and the Governor’s Office.
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Early-October 2014
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The background narratives will be made public. These narratives will contain no specific budget proposals but contain general information about agencies and programs.
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October 15, 2014
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Each agency must submit a base budget plan (usually the budget for the second year of the current biennium carried forward into the new biennium) and they must submit their specific plans for any new budget proposal.
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November 4, 2014
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Election Day
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November 30, 2014
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The agency base budget (without new specific proposals) must be reported by statute to the Legislature.
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November 30, 2014
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The State’s Economic Forecast must be released.
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December 1 - 31, 2014
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Governor Dayton, his staff, key commissioners, and MMB will make final decisions on the 2014-2015 budget. If there is a new governor, the new governor and his staff will be making these decisions in January of 2015.
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January 6, 2015
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The 2013 Legislative Session will convene at Noon.
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January 27, 2015
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The Governor’s 2014-15 budget recommendations will be released. It will be January 27th if Governor Dayton is reelected. It will be February 17th if a new governor is elected.
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February – March 2015
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Legislative Committees in the House and Senate will hold hearings on the Governor’s budget proposal. Hearings will also be held on other spending requests.
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February 28, 2015
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The State’s Economic Forecast will be released.
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Mid -March 2015
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The Governor will make minor modifications to his budget submission based on changes in the February Forecast
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Mid -April 2015
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The House and Senate will likely set legislative deadlines. Final committee consideration of budget bills will commence.
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Late April 2015
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Budget Bills will likely pass the House and Senate.
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Late April – May 21, 2015
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Conference Committees will convene and negotiations between the Legislature and the Governor will commence.
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May 18, 2015
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Constitutional Deadline for adjournment.
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July 1, 2015
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2016-2017 Biennial Budget goes into effect.
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