More bad budget news
The news isn’t getting any better for those wailing over proposed state budget “cuts.”
On Tuesday, Gov. Jim Gibbons, who had previously asked state agencies to prepare contingency budgets 5 percent below anticipated spending plans, upped the ante to 8 percent.
Keep in mind that even with these reductions, state spending will continue to increase at double-digit levels for the two-year budget cycle.
But the revised request clearly telegraphs that sales tax revenues and other levies continue to come in well below projections. September numbers are expected to be released next week.
The governor, who held a summit earlier this month in the wake of criticism over his handling of the potential budget shortfall, was again an easy target on Tuesday.
“What we need is a Nevada-style solution rather than the cookie-cutter reductions the governor is calling for,” said Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, a Las Vegas Democrat.
What Ms. Buckley means by a “Nevada-style solution,” of course, is new and higher taxes. We eagerly await her bill draft requests at the 2009 Legislature.
Yes, Ms. Buckley is correct that budget adjustments should reflect priorities, rather than a one-size-fits-all, across-the-board approach. But at this point, the governor has not adopted the latter — he is simply asking every agency to be prepared.
And that’s the responsible thing for Gov. Gibbons to do.
