Seven Down
What was a $7 billion budget is now down to just under $6 billion after the S.C. Budget and Control Board shaved another $380 million (or 7%) from state agency budgets this afternoon.
The cut is the third major budget reduction and second big across-the-board cut this year, as chronic overspending in previous years and a weakening national economy have sent South Carolina’s tax revenue through the floor.
“Our budget crisis is more a problem of our spending too much than collecting too little,” said S.C. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, who voted for the cut. “Economic growth over the last few years has given us a false hope that good times will last forever. So state government has increased spending beyond levels we can keep up. Now that revenues are falling, we’re unable to support government at the size we’ve grown it.”
What’s also interesting is that all the overspending over the last few years didn’t do a damn thing to turn around South Carolina’s economy or its worst-in-the-nation public school system, which got a billion dollars in new money over the four previous budget years only to continue sucking complete and total ass.
Worse still, “Republican” leaders seem to believe the best way to turn things around is to let government have even more control over our economy, despite the fact that the agency they want to entrust this responsibility to has a record of screwing over entreprenuers to help fund additional higher ed spending, which currently represents 17% of our state budget compared to the national average of 10%.
Also, bear in mind that including today’s cut, government is still a billion dollars bigger than it was just four years ago, which is when our lawmakers embarked on their $2 billion spending orgy.
So in other words, don’t buy that “draconian” crap yet …
Comments
By House Watcher on December 11th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Who in the House will lead us out of this mess? Certainly not Harrell, Cooper, or Merrill.
By James the Foot Soldier on December 11th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I apologize for my earlier post indicating there would be $1 Billion in “mid-year” “cuts”. I have obviously under-stated the “cuts” as we’re zooming right past that marker – at an acceperating pace!
Wonder what the number will be when we finally get to mid-year?
And to think most of the morons that voted for that budget were re-elected. McMaster could have endeared himself to conservatives across the state and nation by calling out that budget and declaring it un-constitutional.
Furloughing the entire House and Senate is where the new round of cuts ought to start.
By Mincing Words on December 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Here’s an idea– how about start with agencies that aren’t necessary? To name just two: the Commission on Prosecution Coordination (lobbying agency on behalf of the 16 elected Solicitors and collossal waster of public money); the State Labor Office (in the old days, investigated state labor law violations, now I think it is down to just migrant workers- completely and utterly duplicative to the feds… but the director’s brother is a muckety muck in the Senate…). There are dozens of commissions and other worthless (or certainly not added value) agencies sucking up lots of cash. Too bad no reform will ever come our way.
By rick not Quinn on December 11th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
To James: How was the budget UNCONSTITUTIONAL as you say? By law the BEA sets the revenues estimate and the legislature budgets according to that number. How is following the law unconstitutional? It must be certified by the BEA as well.