The Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committees announce the Joint Legislative Hearing Schedule on the 2003-2004 Executive Budget submitted to the Legislature by Governor George E. Pataki.

Each of the hearings on the schedule will facilitate the legislative review of the budget proposals made by the Governor. Each of the twelve hearings will focus on a specific programmatic area of the budget. These hearings are the first step in gathering information from the public.

The schedule will begin on February 3rd with the Local Government Officials and General Government Hearing, at which local government officials and representatives of local government are invited to present testimony. Officials wishing to testify should contact Huguette Ostrander of Senator Johnson's staff by close of business on Friday, January 31, 2003.

Hearings on programmatic areas of the budget will begin on February 4, 2003 and continue in accordance with the schedule through March 4, 2003. The respective State Agency or Department heads will lead off testimony each day, followed by interested members of the public. Those wishing to address the Committees are asked to limit their discussion to the programmatic topic area of the budget under consideration at the hearing scheduled for that day and to limit their comments to ten minutes.

Persons wishing to testify should contact the appropriate contact person listed on the schedule no later than the close of business two days prior to the respective hearing. An effort will be made to schedule those who respond in a timely manner earlier in the day. Forty copies of your testimony should be presented at the registration desk at each respective hearing.

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