Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

More budget cuts predicted in legislative session

LITTLE ROCK  No matter what happens during the 84th General Assembly, the end result will be painful for Arkansans.

Gov. Mike Huckabee said the state has had to reduce the budget by $300 million in the last three years, and projections are the current budget will have to be reduced by $62 million in order for the state to have a balanced budget at the end of the fiscal year  June 30, 2003.

Huckabee said cuts will have to be made and people will be hurt.

"This will be more than an inconvenience," he said, saying an inconvenience would be having to wait longer to make a long distance phone connection.

The cuts, he said, will be in the education and Medicare budgets, along with some funds being cut from the department of corrections budget. Schools, though, will take the brunt of the reductions, with $30 million in proposed cuts to come from there.

Where Medicare is concerned, he said, the state loses even more as the federal government provides a 3:1 match.

State Sen. Percy Malone said part of the problem the state currently has with its budget, is the figures were based on anticipated increases of 4.6 percent this year, while the actual growth rate has been 2.5 percent.

The governor, he said, was asked to revise the figures accordingly, but didn't.

"The legislature traditionally gives the governor respect with the budget figures," he said, "but ask him to lower them this year. The governor is responsible for setting the figures for the budget."

Now, Malone said, the legislature has to find ways to make the budget work so it will be balanced at the end of the fiscal year.

"Arkansas's economy isn't bad," he said. "It's been growing at 2 percent, and we expect it to be between 2.4 and 2.5 percent next year.

"Two percent isn't a lot, but we're having to cut from revenue projections of 4.6 percent. We need more growth and to be more conservative in our estimates, but the economy is basically OK."

What compounds the problem, he said, a lot of revenue projects will be cut and the needs of agencies won't be funded. "We've been asking the agencies what will happen if they don't get the money."

Additionally, the state still has the Arkansas Supreme Court looking over its shoulder with the Lake View case, and is required to provide all students with an adequate, equitable and efficient educational system.

"This could cost the state $1 billion," Malone said. "At the least it will be $400 or $500 million. The question is, what do we do?"

With the ASC ordering the state to provide the aforementioned education, he said, the legislature has no option but to comply.

However, he pointed out, the Arkansas Department of Education was given a legislative mandate in 1995 to define an adequate education and didn't.

Now, he continued, the legislature is forming a committee to come up with a definition on what an adequate education is to meet the court's approval. "We have to define it so we won't stay in court. It's worth taking more time to address the issue. The governor's proposition has caused a lot of people heartburn."

At this point, Malone said, with the proposals being circulated, no bills have been proposed and nothing has been adopted.

State Rep. Tommy Roebuck pointed out Gov. Huckabee has spent the state's "rainy day fund" of $18 million, which means the shortfall is actually $80 million, not $62 million, for the year.

Roebuck said the state received $45 million less in taxes in January than was expected, and it could get worse, as February through April are the slowest months for revenue coming in.

He had little to say on the topic of education, other than he'd heard compromises had been made on the governor's proposal.

Rep. Chris Thomason said there's nothing specific on education at this time, and none of the compromises proposed reflect the Democratic Party's view for rural areas.

Thomason said he supports the governor's idea of reorganizing state government if it does two things: makes state government more accessible to the people it's intended to serve, and tightens the belt of state government.

"We've asked the people to tighten their belts," he said, "and the state needs to do the same.

"I want to know what it's going to cost and how much it will save. I haven't seen any figures."