Take it In Another Notch

Newspaper reports coming out of last week's special session suggest that due to some additional spending and tax cuts by the KY Legislature, some further belt tightening will be required by the executive branch. While we think that the additional spending is questionable (the exception perhaps being for public defenders and prosecutors) and the tax cuts are unlikely to provide much growth potential (too narrowly targeted) - the Coalition fully believes that any impetus to continue to eliminate "slack" in agencies is welcome.

To go a step further, isn't it time that we actually started looking at whole programs that may represent a poor allocation of resources? Simply - perhaps a dollar of spending on a program may represent an insufficient return and therefore those dollars may be better directed toward services that everyone agrees are worthwhile? We believe that the time is always right for this kind of evaluation. So let it begin:

The Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation (KSTC) receives considerable state funds to "create an innovation-driven entrepreneurial economy that makes Kentucky a leader in the development of knowledge and its applications to people, firms and organizations." (Their vision statement) Our evaluation indicates that over $16 million was budgeted in 2008 for the Science & Technology Funding Program.  Much of this funding finds it's way over to KSTC. 

We'd ask: are Kentucky taxpayers getting a reasonable return on this investment? What are the job figures? How much to create a job does it cost KSTC? Where are the companies? Where are the "entrepreneurial" firms that their mission tells us their committed to creating?

If KSTC has a defensible track record - it should welcome the dialogue. If not - then isn't it time to think about reallocating those funds toward more basic services? 

The Coalition would say that it's long past time to have this discussion.