The Comptroller's Office has released it's budget projections for FY17 (July 2016 - June 2017). The first projections appear to indicated that the current budget is just slightly out of balance for FY17. This is a huge improvement over last year at this time when a $900+ million deficit was being projected. Despite the stronger outlook, we we expect the purse strings to remain tight. The squeezing in late 2015, early 2016 has made this possible.
These budget numbers will go a long way in determining whether state agencies and state employees will continue to be pinched (punished) by the Governor's "new economic reality".The current projections are not spectacular but they do indicate that we may be headed toward a balanced budget this year. . we will experience more layoffs and more ti