PROVIDENCE, RI -- The notice has gone up early this year for the May Revenue & Caseload Estimating Conference that tells the governor and lawmakers how much money they have available to spend.

It is a major event in the annual budget cycle, but it does not usually get posted until a few weeks before this annual gathering of top fiscal advisors to the governor and legislature gets underway.

But in a year when the state's budget woes are taking center stage at the State House - and the imminent arrival of federal stimulus dollars has scrambled the decision-making - this year's conference organizer, House Fiscal advisor Michael O'Keefe, decided to book the speakers early.

So veteran budget watchers were given a heads up this week to the May 5 start of this year's revenue conference, which begins with an in-depth look at the state's welfare caseloads, resumes on May 7 with briefings on the local, regional and national economy by Steven G. Cochrane of Moody's Economy.com, and the state's own employment forecaster at the state's Department of Labor & Training.

The revenue-estimators will attempt to reach a consensus on the state's financial situation on Monday, May 11 after a series of briefings along the way from the Lottery commission, tax division, treasurer and the administrators of the state's historical and film tax credit programs.