Dick Sheridan's latest "State Budgeting Matters" is now available. In it, he examines 10 critical questions that will need to be answered before the final state operating budget can be adopted. They are:

1. Whether the FY 2009 state budget will have to be rebalanced;
2. Whether the budget for the forthcoming biennium can be balanced before the current budget expires on June 30;
3. Whether the proposed FY 2010 – FY 2011 budget request is balanced;
4. How to satisfy requirements for the receipt of federal economic stimulus aid;
5. What happens if the administration’s estimates of tax receipts for the coming biennium, and the economic forecast on which they are based, are optimistic;
6. How accurate are the administration’s forecasts for Medicaid enrollments;
7. What effect will proposed revenue and spending actions have on units local government;
8. What the future implications of relying on one-time, non-recurring revenues to sustain proposed levels of spending will be;
9. What happens if current collective bargaining agreements are not changed; and
10. In the administration’s proposed budget, who wins and who loses?

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