May 18, 2013

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House budget chair responds to Governor’s budget actions

June 26, 2012 By

The House Budget Committee Chairman accuses Governor Jay Nixon of “political grandstanding” in saying the legislature’s budget wasn’t balanced and withholding $15 million from it.

House Budget Director, Representative Ryan Silvey (R-Kansas City)

Representative Ryan Silvey (R-Kansas City) says the Governor’s assessment that the proposed budget was $50 million out of balance is simply not true. “We appropriated about $56 million less than he asked us to, so if we’re $50 million out now that means he was over $100 million out when he asked for it. Beyond that, we left about $7 million in the bank compared to his, like, $50 thousand I think, that he recommended we leave in the bank, so we way under-spent what he asked us to.”

Nixon says the legislature used a “rosy projection” that lottery revenues would grow by $35 million this year. Silvey says the Governor’s Office backed using that estimate when talking with legislative budget committee members. “We were a little skeptical of it initially too, but they told us it was attainable, the lottery told us it was attainable, and rather than tell us back then when we could have done something to address it, he waits for (the legislature) to go home and then uses it as an excuse to cut schools.”

Silvey suggests the Governor has a similar motivation for saying the legislature shouldn’t have cut $11 million dollars from the disaster recovery funds. “It’s political for him to point to that because we talked to them because we talked to (the governor’s staff) ahead of time about cutting this $11 million.”

Silvey says after talking to the governor’s staff, that was one line in the budget where lawmakers restored the “E,” or estimated amount, while most others were removed. He said the budget conference committee didn’t think additional money would be needed, “but just in case we gave them the “E.” That was fine back then when we were in session … but then, when he wants to find a reason to cut (higher) education, he goes out and throws that one under the bus too.”

See our earlier stories on the governor’s budget withholds here and here.

As he said about the withholds Governor Nixon made in the fiscal year 2012 budget, Silvey now says of the fiscal year 2013 withholds that the governor’s reasons for making them do not fit the criteria of the Constitution. “Here we are, a week to go in (fiscal year 2012), and if I’m not mistaken, I think we’re meeting the projection. So he was over-withholding well beyond what it would take even if we didn’t meet the projection and I think that’s ultimately why he got sued by the (State Auditor).”

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For third straight year, Nixon cuts higher education

June 25, 2012 By

For the third year, Governor Jay Nixon is restricting money from higher education.

Governor Jay Nixon

The Governor announced on Friday $15 million in cuts that he called a first step in righting a budget he says is more than $50 million out of balance. The largest single item in that is a one percent across-the-board reduction for the state’s colleges and universities, equaling nearly $9 million.

When asked why higher education is again the target for restrictions, Nixon points to other places where higher education is benefitting, including adding $40 million dollars to higher education through a governor’s amendment.

“The bottom line is that I appreciate the fine work that our universities are doing,” he says. “A one percent restriction when you compare that to what we’ve seen around the country … it’s what we can do in the constraints of the budget we have.”

The cut to higher education equals about $4 million to the University of Missouri System.

See our earlier story on the budget withholds, including a video of the announcement.

The Governor says the cuts are needed because the legislature is banking too much on lottery revenues increasing by $35 million, because lawmakers cut $11 million from disaster relief funds when the state still owes money for cleanup after last year’s disasters and because three pieces of legislature that haven’t yet been acted on could reduce state revenue by $12.5 million.

He says he hopes an economic turnaround will mean that no more withholds will be necessary.

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House committee hears update from State Budget Director

February 22, 2012 By
The Nixon Administration has laid out its ideas for filling in the $460 million dollar hole in the fiscal year 2013 budget to the House Budget Committee.
 

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering

The gap in the budget had been $500 million but a recent mortgage settlement secured by the Attorney General’s Office has knocked that number down by $40 million.

State Budget Director Linda Luebbering says the Administration’s recommendations to balance the budget includes a $191.7 million reduction from where budget planners expected Medicaid would be. She tells lawmakers, “It’s an actual reduction of $20 million for general revenue from this year, but a $191 million dollar reduction from where we thought we would need to be because of the change in the Medicaid match rate.” Luebbering says it will not require a change in eligibility or a reduction in services provided.

$74.7 million of the administration’s budget recommendations also rely on measures still before the state legislature. A revenue collections bill would generate an estimated $12.9 million, with another $51.8 million to come from a tax amnesty bill. Both are sponsored by Representative Tom Flanigan (R-Carthage).

What had been a $16.9 million dollar recommended reduction to community and technical colleges has been scaled back to $10.5 million, also due to proceeds from the mortgage settlement.

Other amounts include $41 million from restructuring debt, $29.3 million in administrative savings, a $7 million reduction to biodiesel subsidy payments and a $2 million reduction to public health agencies.

The Administration’s top priority for the budget remains $203 million to the Foundation Formula. Luebbering says, “$198 million of that is needed just to keep the formula where it is this year.”

Luebbering tells the committee there are some positive signs in the economy. “The unemployment rate is down. We are starting to see a little bit of growth on the collections side. Not a lot yet this fiscal year. We were at 1.3 percent growth in our revenue collections at the end of January, so not stellar growth, but certainly it’s good to see that we’re continuing a positive on our collections numbers.”

Republicans question the validity of the lower unemployment numbers, saying that federal statistic does not count individuals who don’t have jobs and are no longer looking for them as being unemployed. Luebbering says the data still holds meaning, “Because it has historically looked at people who are looking for jobs or who have jobs. So, I think it is a historically relevant statistic that has been measured the same for years. Granted it’s not a complete number, but it at least is consistently calculated every month.”

The House Budget Committee will continue to hold agency budget hearings this week.

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