It seems like every day we hear another disturbing report regarding the “perfect storm” facing our members: the recession has caused the demand for services to skyrocket. At the same time, revenues to provide these services continue to drop.
The soft 45 day deadline for the special budget session came and went this Monday (February 22); One major proposal that remains unfinished is the swap of transportation revenues. One of the bills also allows the state to defer some payments to counties.
Yesterday, the Legislature attempted to finalize action on the emergency budget package amidst considerable confusion and irritation.
Eventually, the Assembly sent five measures to the Governor, achieving about $2.3 billion in savings. Outstanding issues remain, however, including concurrence on two measures that have already passed the Senate and failed in the Assembly, as well as the cash management proposal and gas tax swap.
For a full status report