In the FY 2011 budget bill, or H.B. 17-96, which is expected to be introduced today, the spending level for the legislative branch is $8.5 million for 208 employees.
The Legislature’s current budget is $6.1 million.
Tenorio said “there is just no way” that the Legislature can operate under the same budget ceiling.
He said each member of the Legislature is supposed to get $155,000 in discretionary funds a year, but this has been reduced to $80,000.
This amount is used for the operations of a lawmaker’s office, personnel, supplies, among other items.
In addition to the discretionary funds, each lawmaker gets a salary of $39,300 a year.
The proposed $2 million increase for the Legislature’s budget is not really that big and will be funded by “revenue-generating” measures they will pass this year, Tenorio said.
These are expected to include fee and tax hikes.
Tenorio said the administration cut the legislative branch’s budget last year when it realized the government was not collecting enough revenue.
“Frankly, I think that was unconstitutional,” the former governor said. “The governor cannot cut our budget or that of the judiciary branch. There is supposed to be a separation of powers here,” Tenorio added.
If there was a shortfall of revenue, he said, the governor should have cut the budget of the executive branch, not those of the other branches.
“If he needs to save more money and needs to touch our budget he should have come over here and talk to us,” he added.
According to Tenorio, the governor has been cutting the allotments for legislative branch which has been letting the governor get away with it.
“But now, it’s not going to happen anymore, not in FY 2011,” the speaker said, adding that lawmakers will no longer allow the administration to touch their budget.
He said their proposed FY 2011 budget is just a very minimal step in restoring what the administration took away from them.
