House and Senate Pass Budget Bills -- Breeder Awards in Both Agriculture Budgets Posted On:May 13, 2011 | Posted By:Glen
The Senate and House passed their respective budget bills this afternoon for FY12 state appropriations.
The Department of Agriculture ("DOA") funding in the House budget -- contained in HB 124 -- included $1.6 million in breeder awards from the IL Thoroughbred Breeders Fund. HB 124 passed the House today by a vote of 82-26-0 and now goes to the Senate.
The Senate previously introduced its FY12 funding for the DOA -- SA#1 to SB 2408 -- that eliminated the breeders awards. Earlier this afternoon, Senate Amendment #4 to SB 2408 (Kotowski) was introduced to provide, among other agencies, the final Senate appropriations to the DOA. Within SA#4 to SB 2408 was funding for all breeders awards through DOA. On page 21, line 24 of the amendment (linked below), the Senate appropriated $1.2 million for breeder awards -- however, the funding will be coming directly from GRF; not the IL Thoroughbred Breeders Fund. SB 2408, as amended by SA#4, passed the Senate by a vote of 33-24-0 and now goes to the House.
Both the House and Senate versions of the DOA budget for FY12 now include funding for thoroughbred breeders awards -- the House at $1.6 million and the Senate at $1.2 million. The House and Senate will now begin the process of reconciling their respective budgets to determine the final FY12 appropriations.
