Committee on Finance

The Senate Finance Committee is one of the most powerful committees in the Legislature because of its role in formulating and revising all appropriation bills considered by the Legislature. All Senate bills involving expenditure or suspected expenditure of state funds are referred to the Finance Committee for consideration. The Ways and Means Committee serves the same fiscal functions in the Assembly. The duties of both the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee are proscribed in the Legislative Law, Article 2, Sections 27-33. Perhaps the most important activity of the Senate Finance Committee is reviewing the executive budget. Pursuant to Article 7 of the State Constitution, the governor submits to the Legislature a recommended Executive Budget showing estimates of available revenues and proposed expenditure plans for the overall purposes of the state government in the forthcoming fiscal year. The Constitution assigns the Legislature the responsibility of reviewing and approving this budget. The Finance Committee is the committee in the Senate responsible for considering the budget and recommending changes. As part of this budget process, each state agency must submit to the Senate Finance Committee copies of its budget at the same time it submits budgets to the governor. The chair of the Committee and staff are able to attend budget hearings held to discuss each agency's budget requests. The committee also works closely with the governor's staff each year in preparing the deficiency budget and the supplemental budget. Because the committee is charged with investigating all government projects or activities financed through the state budget, it has a major legislative oversight role. It has the authority to investigate any governmental activity that involves the expenditure of public funds. The Senate Finance controls its own budget, unlike other standing committees which are funded out of the general budget controlled by the Senate leadership. The control of funding helps ensure the independence of the Committee. The Finance Committee has a permanent Secretary and large year-round majority and minority staffs of professional economists and budget analysts. These staffs have enabled the Committee to play an increasingly significant role in the state government appropriation process. The Senate Finance Committee has an additional activity (Senate Rule 16, Sect. 8) of considering and reporting to the full Senate those appointments made by the governor which require approval by the Senate. The only exception to this are appointments to judicial offices which are referred for consideration instead to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.