Senate Finance unveils operating budget balanced at $73 per barrel, with modest reserves

Senate President Stevens said the Senate Finance Committee released a first version of the operating budget "balancing the operating budget at $73 per barrel" and reserving funds to address supplemental spending needs next year, calling the plan "a truly responsible and forward looking approach."

Senator Sevin told reporters the committee will offer amendments and "fine tuning" this week, and reiterated that the $73‑per‑barrel assumption anchors the plan despite oil trading much higher today. "We are not too far apart ... We have not changed our objectives of $73 a barrel and we're holding trying to hold everything within those bookends even though oil today is at a 110 or some number north of that," Sevin said.

Sevin noted the budget does not enact until July 1, giving the Legislature time to adjust if economic conditions change. He also urged reporters and the public to watch planned committee amendments and overnight tabling that will be part of final adjustments.

Senators repeatedly emphasized caution in the face of volatile oil prices and said detailed work remains to reconcile technical projections and account balances before final passage.

What remains unclear: the transcript contains a numeric phrase about reserved supplemental funding ("reserving about 50,000,000 to $2,000,000") that is inconsistent and should be clarified by the budget office; the text quoted here reflects the transcript’s language without correcting that ambiguity.