News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Governor Bill Lee unveiled a plan Thursday to shave another $284 million in revenue from the new fiscal year budget.
Representative Ryan Williams and the House Finance Committee discussed budget priorities with the governor Thursday.
“They presented us a way in which we can continue to cut, areas where we can cut, and rob Peter to pay Paul for a few areas so that we won’t have to dip into a rainy day fund,” Williams said. “That was some really good news. And so this is by no means a perfect plan, but it’s one that probably gets us 90 percent there.”
The governor’s plan would fully fund the state’s Basic Education Plan. Williams said that has been a priority for both houses after the work that has been done in recent years to improve education across the state.
“Education has been a priority over the last 10 years in the General Assembly and we’ve seen great strides made not just in teacher pay, but also and in student achievement, which has been really good,” Williams said.
The state would also fully fund health and pension funds for state employees.
To cut expenses, the governor’s plan includes 12 percent reductions in all parts of state government through greater efficiencies. The state will reduce new capital projects, and use bonds instead of cash to pay for previously funded capital projects. It also includes an employee buy-out initiative to reduce the state workforce. Williams said the state has done this before, citing the economic downturn of 2008.
The governor has laid out the plan. Now, the legislature begins the review of each line across each department. Williams cited a local example of Cummins Falls State Park as the kind of cost-cutting that needs to happen.
“Senator (Paul) Bailey and I have advocated for five new positions at Cummins Falls,” Williams said. “Well, in order to save money, one of the budget line item reductions that the governor proposed, instead of adding five, we’re only adding two. We’re able to save that money and retain it in the budget. Those are the kinds of things that we’ll do line-item by line-item to drill down.”
Legislative leaders have said they want to be complete the budget in the next two weeks. Williams said he would prefer to see new tax revenue numbers due next week before making final decisions. The new fiscal year begins July 1.
“We have a statutory requirement to balance the budget and the only way to do that is to cut spending,” Williams said. “There are places where that the spending is going to be much more painful than others, but it’s all painful when you have to communicate with your constituents about it.”
