Lede: Michael Caine, the Legislative Budget Assistant, told the House and Senate Ways and Means committees the state’s fiscal picture for fiscal 2025 is still evolving and depends on final FY24 audit results, revenue performance through January–March and several statutory appropriations that will draw on next year’s funds.

Nut graf: The Legislative Budget Assistant Office (LBA) provided a point‑in‑time summary showing the general fund and the Education Trust Fund (ETF) balances differ materially from the budget assumptions made in mid‑2023. Caine warned the committee the annual comprehensive financial report (CAFR) for 2024 remained delayed and multiple factors — from liquor commission accounting to business tax shortfalls and required statutory “true ups” — were changing the end‑of‑year outlook.

Body: Caine told members the budget sheet in their packet was a snapshot and that figures would continue to change as agencies finalize year‑end numbers. He said the statutory deadline for the governor’s budget submission is February 15 and that agencies are still fine‑tuning revenue and spending estimates with the governor’s office.

On balances, Caine said the budget assumed FY25 would open with a $42 million beginning balance in the general fund and $183.9 million in the ETF; preliminary CAFR information he cited showed a larger general fund balance (about $79.7 million) but a lower ETF balance (roughly $158.9 million). He said those ETF numbers reflected higher adequacy and student‑count driven payments and weaker business tax receipts that flow disproportionately to the ETF.

The LBA flagged several ongoing drivers of change: a CAFR delay caused in part by the liquor commission’s point‑of‑sale conversion and reconciliation; roughly $50 million in off‑budget statutory appropriations (settlements and statutory “true ups”); about $45.1 million of legislative specials moved into FY25 in the general fund; and planned requests by agencies (for example the Judicial Council) for additional general fund appropriations. Caine told the committee that the administration has about $2 billion of ARPA funds in available balances that have supported higher interest income in recent years but that as those funds are drawn down interest revenue will decline going into FY26 and FY27.

Asked to define “unbudgeted appropriations,” Caine listed categories including attorney general litigation expenses (he cited about $6.7 million so far), legal settlements (about $12 million), abandoned property claims, border claims and death benefit payments, and a reallocation for certified corrections officers tied to prior legislation. On the ETF side he said roughly $20 million of the ETF variance was due to adequacy payments that exceeded two‑year budget assumptions, and a few million more from higher take‑up of education freedom accounts.

Ending: Caine closed by urging the committee to expect continued movement in the numbers through January and February revenue collections and the final CAFR; he said the LBA would update committee worksheets as figures are finalized.