Legislative Report: March 27, 2023

It’s day 46. The Senate still has 234 bills to act on, and the House is still looking at 203. The committees have been hearing a lot of bills and have been listening to a lot of testimony.

This week the Legislature heard from two different economic forecasts group. Each had a similar picture of where our state is going financially over the next two years. The appropriations committees took that information and took a middle of the road outlook. There are assumptions that show additional sales tax, motor vehicle tax, and income tax being greater than earlier predicted. Those predictions indicate an extra $33 million for 21-23 and $57 million for 23-25. There are also predictions that oil prices per barrel will be $70 the first year and $62 the second year of the biennium. Production should remain at about 1.1 million barrels a day.

This week, a tax bill should be coming out of the Senate Finance and Tax committee. As I have stated before, the Senate likes property tax reductions, and the House really wants income tax reductions. The Senate proposal will take some income tax, some property tax, and some homestead tax credit and roll it into one package. It remains to be seen as to the final negotiated number, but we are still looking at between $500-600 million. The tempo is picking up as we continue to come toward conference committees.

Stay tuned.