Governor Announces Administration Exploring Cuts, Taxes
Governor Steve Beshear announced that he is expecting a $294 million budget shortfall and is going to gauge public reaction before making a specific proposal to address it in December. Cuts and taxes are on the table.
Waiting until December is strange, and suggests broad tax changes are not on the menu. Waiting until December puts the timing of his proposal right up against the holidays and the 2009 regular session. In the short 2009 session, a supermajority is required for any legislation affecting state revenues, making any tax changes difficult. By waiting until December and the holidays, legislators will be difficult to convince that a special session is necessary before they are already scheduled to return in January, and they certainly won't want to consider any substantial tax changes while the rest of Kentucky is shopping for Christmas.
While there is always the January interim period where a special session could possibly be called during a regular session, it seems more likely that the Governor will be left by the legislature to address the situation making spending cuts on his own. Let's hope he makes them prudently rather than picking programs sure to fire up the interest groups in support of a tax increasing agenda.
