On Friday, after a regular session and three special sessions that spanned six months, the Legislature finally adjourned for the year. It was frustrating that it took so long to reach a final agreement on a new state budget.
In the end, the Legislature passed the 2015-17 operating budget by a vote of 90-8 in the House of Representatives and 38-10 in the Senate. The compromise budget makes historic investments in K-12 funding, fully funds state-employee contracts, provides cost-of-living increases for teachers, gives tax relief to our seniors and disabled veterans, and actually reduces tuition for our college students and their parents. This was done without a general tax increase.