More Belt-Tightening on the Way

State Budget Director Mary Lassister recently informed state agencies that further budget reductions within certain state agencies will be required to keep the budget balanced. The reports indicate that reductions would be in addition to the anticipated 2.6% reductions that were authorized during the recent special session. According to Ms. Lassiter:

“Most of the priority areas of government were protected from additional cuts – , the SEEK calculation or funding for post-secondary education, Medicaid, corrections… A very large percentage of the dollars in the General Fund aren’t subject to cuts. The original 2.6% proposal was versus ’09 spending levels for kind of the rest of government beyond most of the agencies that (she) mentioned.”

This new round of belt tightening is due to the tax credits also authorized during the special session. Given that the essential services in education, Medicaid and corrections will not be subject to the reductions, we can assume that these cuts will be in the “slack” resources that have existed in state agencies for years.

This further “right sizing” of  state government is welcome. Since these cuts have been made for the better part of two years now and state government continues to function sufficiently, we’ve got to wonder why these appropriations have been made all these years. We can only hope that when the economy turns around, the commitment to fiscal responsibility – asking whether these slack resources are necessary to begin with – remains a priority for policymakers in Frankfort.