Certainly not the "over burdened" wealthy. Bush's stimulus plan is genius, I must say....
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Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said residents of almost every state will feel the impact as budgets for the new fiscal year take effect, bringing with them tax and fee increases as well as steep spending cuts.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
6 States Fail to Agree on Budgets
California Borrows To Avert Shutdown
By Dale Russakoff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 2, 2003; Page A04
The financial crisis in state governments has produced such deep divisions between Republicans and Democrats that lawmakers and governors in six states have failed to agree on budgets for the new fiscal year that began yesterday, although no states have been forced to shut down government operations.
California Republicans and Democrats remained so much at odds that they adjourned several hours before Monday's midnight deadline for enacting a new budget, leaving a $38 billion deficit unresolved. California's government is operating on borrowed cash. It will not shut down as a result, but will begin to stop payments to some agencies and contractors -- a phased-in shutdown that will affect services and people more as the political impasse continues.
Democrats and Gov. Gray Davis (D) favor a combination of tax increases, borrowing and budget cuts to close the gap. Republicans remain firmly opposed to any new taxes, proposing instead to cut more deeply into public schools and higher education.
"Let me be clear," Davis said in response. "I will not sign a budget that slams the door shut on more than 100,000 kindergarten students. I will not sign a budget that denies opportunity to tens of thousands of deserving students who want to go to college."
Lawmakers and governors in Connecticut, Nevada, Oregon, New Hampshire and Rhode Island also remained deadlocked over their budgets, but are funding government with temporary spending measures as negotiations continue.
While most of the standoffs feature Democrats seeking higher taxes than Republicans and Republicans seeking deeper spending cuts than Democrats, there are notable exceptions. New Hampshire's Republican governor, Craig Benson, is demanding deeper spending cuts than his Republican-dominated legislature has approved; in Nevada, Gov. Kenny Guinn (R) is seeking a tax increase that Democrats and Republicans have yet to agree on. Guinn filed a lawsuit early yesterday asking the state Supreme Court to raise the taxes needed to pay for public schools.
In Connecticut, Gov. John G. Rowland (R) is running the government by executive order pending passage of a budget, ruling day by day on which bills will be paid and which levels of spending he will allow. Rowland said he wants a combination of tax increases and spending cuts to resolve the standoff, but he says the legislature, which is controlled by Democrats, is insisting on a level of social services and state employee benefits that the state no longer can afford.
"I've already vetoed three budgets that had too many taxes in them. It's a traditional Democrat-Republican, tax-spending debate," Rowland said. State Senate Majority leader Martin Looney (D) saw it differently: "Those who are frail and in need do need help from government, and Democrats recognize that as a moral responsibility," he said.
After months of partisan rancor, New Jersey lawmakers agreed overnight Monday to most of the tax increases proposed by Gov. James E. McGreevey (D), affecting casinos, cigarettes, billboards and home sales. Then lawmakers passed a $24 billion budget for the fiscal year that began yesterday, averting an impending shutdown of all but essential state services.
The political impasses underline the severity of the states' fiscal problems, which now are deeper and longer-lasting than at any time since the National Governors Association began cataloguing state fiscal health in 1977. Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said residents of almost every state will feel the impact as budgets for the new fiscal year take effect, bringing with them tax and fee increases as well as steep spending cuts.
"Here comes the bleeding, the real pain," Pattison said. "We've crossed the line where this has lasted long enough and the budget shortfalls are deep enough that states really do have to do painful actions, whether it's cut politically popular programs or raise taxes."
Staff writer Rene Sanchez contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
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