Dear Neighbors,
The State Legislature has begun working towards its chief goal of balancing our state budget. As part of that process, the Governor unveiled his budget proposal to close our $4.8 billion deficit. I want to provide you with some information about the Governor’s budget and how it will impact our District. I also want to invite you to attend town hall meetings coming up soon in our District where you can learn and actively discuss our state budget.
As always, if you have any questions please contact me.
Best Regards, Rep. David Bly
Governor’s Budget:
The Committees in the Legislature have begun the work of going through the Governor’s budget to examine what are areas that the Legislature may agree with and those that we may disagree. That way, we can move closer towards the goal of passing a balanced budget by the end of session in May.
In broad strokes, this is how the Governor proposes to close our $4.8 billion deficit:
Proposed cuts: $2.521 billion
Federal stimulus funds: $920 million
Shifts/Deferring K-12 payments from June 2011 to July 2012 (to the new fiscal year): $1.294 billion
Borrowing: 20-year loan against future spending: $983 million
New spending: $323 million (adds to deficit)
Tax cuts: $287 million (adds to deficit)
Budget reserve: $250 million (adds to the deficit)
New tax or fee revenue: $0
The Governor’s proposed cuts largely come in the areas of health care and human services and local government aid to cities and counties. I am particularly concerned with the level of cuts the Governor has proposed to LGA, which represents a 40% cut for many of the cities in our District. The local officials I have talked to are concerned cuts of this level will force significant layoffs or steep property tax increases.