How to Cut Kentucky's Budget Without Really Trying
The idea of a "fiscal shortfall," something you'll hear plenty about in the coming months, is a bit of a misnomer.
The real term, at least in our fine commonwealth, should be "overspending."
Kentucky revenues increased by more than nine percent in two of Ernie Fletcher's four years in office. The other years saw more moderate increases in state revenue.
If revenues increased so much over the past four years, why is the cupboard bare? Because no lawmaker or Gov. Beshear can imagine that any of that spending was poorly conceived.
Here's a suggestion: Instead of creating a whole new budget this year, why not pass the substance of a budget from a few years ago. Say, the budget passed in 2003.
The budget passed in 2006 (not all of it was enacted) appropriated $26.2 billion the first year and $22.5 billion the following year. 2003, by contrast, saw a budget that appropriated just $18.9 billion the first year and $17.8 billion the second year. Again, not all of that passed budget became law.
Passing a budget the same size as the one passed in 2003 could save Kentucky taxpayers approximately $6 billion a year.
Just how much of our money does Frankfort need?
