Brother, Can You Spare $46 Million?
It’s not the $60 million shortfall it could have been, but October revenue collections in the state of Indiana fell $46 million short causing Governor Mitch Daniels to call for more budget cuts, wage freezes and dipping into surplus state dedicated funds.
Daniels say revenue collections have been off by more than $300 million since the start of the fiscal year. The Governor announced the state will take several steps to close the shortfall which include…
- State agencies will reduce spending by at least 10 percent from the as-passed budget. The governor had already ordered a 5 percent spending reduction in July.
- The lieutenant governor, auditor, treasurer, secretary of state, and superintendent of public instruction have committed to 10 percent spending reductions in their own office budgets.
- Reimbursements to some Medicaid providers will be reduced.
- State employees will not receive a pay increase in 2010, the same action as 2009. The last time there were back-to-back years with no pay raises was in 2002 and 2003.
- Governor Daniels will not accept his full pay in 2010, the same action he took for 2009 when his salary was due to increase from $95,000 to $107,882.
- State agencies will offer voluntary unpaid leave for the remainder of the current fiscal year.
- State agency capital projects will be deferred. This includes new buildings or structures, infrastructure and system upgrades, and site improvements.
- Some dedicated funds will be transferred to the general fund. Amounts will vary and will not disrupt the long-term viability of the program supported by the dedicated funds.
The Governor also said while public safety and education are the top priorities, schools should be prepared to deal with the reality of possibly getting less money than originally budgeted.
One area where state revenue was up was in gaming, however Daniels says he has no desire to expand gambling in the state, but has no real issue with moving existing licenses from one part of Indiana to another if warranted.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Overall I would have to say that Daniel's response is both reasonable and responsible. I do have a few concerns though. The post mentioned all the executive branch officials that will be cutting their own office budgets – I didn't see the governor's office on that list. While having the governor personally taking less pay is a very nice symbolic gesture – I would like him lead by example by cutting spending in his own office.
The one concern I do have is with cutting payments to Medicaid providers. Depending on which type of providers we are talking about – that could have some very bad consequences. Medicaid does not pay well now – to the point where there are many providers that refuse to see Medicaid patients because they can't make money on them. I would hate to see that situation get even worse.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Seriously, if it's not raining now, what are we saving up for?
November 6th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Because it really hasn't started to rain yet.
The next twelve months will be very revealing.
November 6th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I hope the Governor's statement that he “has no real issue with moving existing licenses from one part of Indiana to another if warranted.” does not mean a retreat from northwest Indiana and the Chicago market.
Perhaps he was referring to moving one of the Gary casino boats to a high traffic land location in Lake County.
Green lighting the folks in Gary to move casinos into Indianapolis or Fort Wayne is like General McArthur ordering the army to attack the U.S.A.
November 7th, 2009 at 9:32 am
All of you that investigated the IGT on the Wishard deal should also know if you did complete homework where the state could actually rake in an additional $150 million or more by maximizing and using the schemes correctly. As they now talk about freezing wages again for the hard working state employee's they will once again offer raises and bonuses for high performers like Mitch Roob and others in the “in Crowd”. This administration is full of $100,000 plus consultants that don't show up on the payroll so let's cut all of them loose first…how about it Mitch? How about starting with a certian consultant that is working for FSSA and Health and Hospital at the same time?
Peace
November 8th, 2009 at 5:22 am
Wondering how many people have quit smoking, and paying tobacco taxes?
November 8th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Wondering how many people have quit smoking, and paying tobacco taxes?