Senator Fitzgerald On Working Out State Budget Differences

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald feels state legislators will be able to approve a two-year budget for the state in the next few weeks. He told KFIZ News he’s been talking with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos about the differences between the Senate and Assembly over the budget. He says they are back at the table this week to hash out some of the final big pieces of the budget that they think are necessary for the Joint Finance Committee to fully take action. Transportation has been one of those issues, but there have also been differences between the Senate and Assembly on how much per pupil funding should be included in the Education portion of the budget. Fitzgerald says he would like to see more funding for rural school districts that do not see as much state aid. The state lawmaker from Juneau says he’s more confident now that a resolution will be reached and the budget will get done by the 4th of July if not sooner.