source

The Assembly Budget Committee will meet today to review the Governor's proposed FY 2010 budget for the state departments of Children and Families and Community Affairs. Here's the schedule for you to follow along:
DCF Commissioner Kimberly Ricketts is scheduled to testify at 10 a.m.

Community Affairs Commissioner Joseph Doria will make his presentation at 2 p.m.
The budget proposals were all made before we learned that growing revenue shortfall is worsening and now collections are down nearly $2 billion.

In the initial budget proposal, the Department of Children and Families received $10 million less than requested at just over $754 million. The Department of Community Affair's budget was proposed at almost $10 million more than requested allotting just over $65 million. After last week's budget hearings, Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman offered this weekly message on the importance of preserving pre-K through 12 education, though I know there have also been many questions raised about Higher Education Funding:



Even that video is out of date now because they talk about the $3.5 billion in cuts that have been made, but who knows what further cuts may lie ahead. All of these proposed departmental budgets may receive a second and third look with the way the numbers are coming back in. Speaker Roberts once again said yesterday that all options are on the table. As always, you can listen live to the hearings from the comfort of your home streaming through your speakers.