The State Budget Woes Continue

[WaterDog]

$280 million less than expected

[Cool Texan]

"He said the Legislature's choices of cutting spending or raising taxes to balance the budget "both are not beneficial in terms of the economy.""

Interesting observation.

I sure hope the folks in Salem figure this out quickly. Time to restructure spending, reduce costs (ie, fire up the personnel chainsaw), and rethink how they go about business. Will be interesting to see what they come up with as a possible solution.

[clearview2u]

ouch! that does not sound good at all

[WaterDog]

They (the powers that be) are talking about reducing tax deductions. Great.

Another possibilty is to reduce or eliminate some of the shared revenues that the state shares with counties and cities that come from cigarette and alcohol taxes. While that may not mean much to most folks it means a lot to my City. The amount is not huge but it is significant when you have already cut 20% of your budget. :depressed:

This is not good indeed. :depressed:

[TheRogue]

Disconnect from Federal tax rules...Bush's tax cut will do nothing but harm to this state in the short term.

Temporarily (3-5 years) rescind some of the tax shelters and deductions, beginning with at least 50% of the standard deductions for children, and permanently remove the mortgage interest deduction for second homes when it is not a JUSTIFIABLE business expense.

Repeal the "Double Majority" law to allow the school districts to float their own money ballot measures when they need to, not just in general elections.

Acclerate plans for logging in the Tillamook Forest, while petitioning the federal government for significant tariff penalties on government-subsidized Canadian lumber.

Pass a law allowing more leeway for local governments to charge developers for the TRUE costs of developments...ie, schools, roads, sewer and water, etc. If we're going to continue to grow, let's be realistic about paying for it.

Part of the list, there's much more that can be done without gutting education and basic services.

TR