Governor To Reduce Spending Further
In other good news from the just completed special session, Governor Beshear has determined that he will reduce spending further than the $200 million he had proposed.
In a press release, he suggested that the legislature increased spending, but offered only tax cuts as examples of what would motivate his commitment to thriftiness:
Moreover, the Governor said the legislature added millions and millions of dollars in additional spending to the budget, even as they agreed with his key priorities of education, health care and public safety.
Those additions - including tax credit proposals for cars and new home purchases along with active military income tax exemptions - are all worthwhile and deserving of support, Gov. Beshear said. However, the result will be significantly deeper cuts in much of state government, beyond the 2.6 percent cut for most state agencies that the Governor proposed in his budget plan.
"Those decisions today will have profound consequences tomorrow," he said. "And there should be no doubt of that among everyone involved in crafting this budget revision."
We look forward to examining the budget to analyze whether any additional spending was added, and we'll let you know who voted for increased spending when they were addressing a $1 billion shortfall.
But we welcome the reductions of the tax burden on Kentuckians, however selective they are, as well as the Governor's commitment to continue to reduce spending.
