Handbook·State government

How state budgets actually work

Explainer·Verified 2026-07-10

The answer

A state budget is not one document one person writes. It is a year-long negotiation between the governor's agencies and the legislature that ends in a bill the governor can still reshape line by line after the legislature passes it. The folk model treats "the budget" as something the legislature simply approves. In most states, the governor proposes it first, the legislature rewrites it, and then the governor gets a second bite through the line-item veto, striking individual spending items the legislature already voted for, without the legislature getting another vote unless it musters an override.

How it actually works

The cycle starts months before any bill is introduced: state agencies submit funding requests, the governor's office compiles them alongside a revenue forecast into an executive budget request, and the governor presents it publicly, often during a State of the State address. The legislature then takes over: both chambers hold committee hearings, propose amendments, and each passes its own version of the budget bill. Because the two chambers' versions rarely match exactly, a conference committee negotiates a single reconciled bill, which then goes back to both chambers for a final vote. Once passed, the bill goes to the governor, who can sign it whole, veto it whole, or in most states, line-item veto specific provisions while signing the rest into law.¹ In March 2026, West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey signed a $5.5 billion budget but made 12 separate line-item objections to specific spending items.² In April 2026, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly went further, line-item vetoing more than 30 individual budget provisions, including striking a 4.4 percent pay raise the legislature had voted for itself.³

Who holds the power

Most states legally require a balanced budget, but the requirement attaches to different actors in different states: 44 states require the governor to propose one, 41 require the legislature to pass one, and 40 require the governor to sign one, meaning a small number of states have gaps where no specific official is legally bound to balance.¹ If the governor vetoes the whole appropriations act, the state can end up operating under a continuing resolution, essentially spending at last year's levels, until a new budget is finally passed and signed. The legislature can override a full veto or restore an individual line-item veto, but only by hitting that state's specific override threshold, giving the governor real final-cut leverage over a budget the legislature already approved.

Some states budget annually, others biennially, once every two years for a two-year cycle, which changes how quickly a citizen can react to a bad budget decision. Whether the governor's revenue forecast is independently verified by a nonpartisan panel or produced solely by the executive branch also varies by state and affects how politically contestable the underlying numbers are before debate even starts.

Where you come in

What a governor can do alone. The line-item veto is one of the governor's clearest unilateral powers.
How to testify at a state legislative hearing. Budget committee hearings are a scheduled point for public input before the conference committee stage locks in the final numbers.
How to contact your state legislator. The executive budget request and the conference committee version are both public before the governor signs.

Sources