Senate Finance Committee Chair John A. DeFrancisco and Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chair Herman D. Farrell, Jr., today announced the Joint Legislative Hearing Schedule on the 2012-2013 Executive Budget proposal.

These hearings, each of which focuses on a programmatic area, are intended to provide the appropriate legislative committees with public input on the executive budget proposal. The hearings will be available for viewing on the Senate and Assembly websites and the Legislative Channel (available on cable systems throughout the state), but will be preempted when the houses are in session. At the conclusion of the legislative deliberations, televised coverage of the hearings will resume.

In accordance with the schedule, the hearings will commence on Monday, January 23, and continue through Tuesday, February 14, 2012. The respective state agency or department heads will begin testimony each day, followed by witnesses who have signed up to testify on that area of the budget. Those testifying must limit comments to no more than 10 minutes.

Persons interested in testifying must contact the person listed on the schedule no later than the close of business, two days prior to the respective hearing. Forty copies of your testimony should be presented at the registration desk at each respective hearing.

The agency and the departmental portion of the hearings are provided for in Article 7, Section 3 of the Constitution and Article 2, Section 31 of the Legislative Law. The state Legislature is also soliciting public comment on the proposed budget pursuant to Article 2, Section 32-a of the Legislative Law.