The Joint Budget Committee, the panel of six bipartisan lawmakers that write the state budget, wrapped up its work on the 2025-26 budget around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday with a few laughs, cheers and relief.

The panel took an extra week to finish up the the proposed budget, extra days that allowed for more time to make final decisions on K-12 public and higher education.

The Long Appropriations Bill, and possibly as many as 80 orbital bills that make statutory changes in order to balance the budget, is expected to be introduced on Monday, March 31 in the state Senate.

The bill and the orbitals will be reviewed by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. That committee will be the “committee of reference” for those bills, meaning the public will have an opportunity to offer public testimony on the measures.

The Senate GOP and Democratic caucuses will take Wednesday to review the budget along with their JBC members and staff. The big debate day will be Thursday, and assuming they finish Thursday a final vote could be as soon as Friday.