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Budget critics say tough decisions still loom

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By William Hershey, Staff Writer Updated 10:33 PM Tuesday, July 14, 2009

In budget politics, there’s usually at least a temporary calm after the storm.

This year’s different.

There’s no calm and one’s not expected soon. Even backers of the $50.5 billion budget Gov. Ted Strickland is expected to sign by next Tuesday, July 21 — the last day for the current, temporary state budget — can’t be sure all the fixes they made will get the state through the next two years.

There’s even more uncertainty about what happens two years from now when it’s time to produce a new budget.

If the economy hasn’t turned around, there won’t be the $5 billion in federal stimulus money that helped balance the current budget. Also, it’ll be tougher to again come up with $736 million in savings by delaying debt payments, a tactic Strickland and lawmakers used this time. If video slot machines don’t produce the $936 million projected by Strickland, there’ll be another problem.

In two years, the state could face a shortfall of up to $8 billion just to maintain the same level of operations, said Rick Yocum, president of the Ohio Public Expenditure Council.

Richard Sheridan, who founded the nonpartisan Legislative Budget Office back in the 1970s, said the governor and legislature this year just pushed budget problems off into the future.

“What bothers me about this budget, it denies the reality of not having enough money to continue on,” said Sheridan, now a consultant for the Cleveland-based Center for Community Solutions.

The federal stimulus money should have been used for two-year projects, not continuing operations, he said.

Delaying debt payments is “bad fiscal management,” said Sheridan.

Such fixes just postpone the “serious decisions” about eliminating programs or raising taxes, said Sheridan. Solving the problems likely will be tougher in two years, he said.

State Rep. Vernon Sykes, D-Akron, chairman of the House-Senate conference committee that put the final budget together, rejects such arguments.

Using the stimulus money, restructuring debt and other fixes are intended to get the state through rough times without even more drastic cuts to programs that help the poor, mentally ill and others, said Sykes.

“This seems to be a better way as opposed to panicking now and suffering drastic cuts to all of our services,” said Sykes.

Amanda Wurst, Strickland’s spokeswoman, said strategies in the budget have been used before.

“The governor believes this is the most fiscally responsible way to deal in a realistic way with the unprecedented nature of the challenges we face without raising taxes,” said Wurst.

Raising taxes, said Sykes, is not an option.

“I think, first of all, it would be difficult to get a tax increase approved legislatively,” he said. “It’d be almost impossible.”

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Jerky,why is it "deadwood" in Columbus? Stop and think for a second that possibly a portion of this "deadwood" as you call it, could actually be cuts to critical services that people need. Eliminating high salary positions? Which would those be, and what would the rationale be for the elimination?

ILNadvocate
10:21 AM, 7/16/2009

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Thanks Ohio mom for the info. Good moves by the state. Guess it takes a crisis for them to start cutting out the deadwood in Columbus. Working here in a government facility, I see daily, the money waste and overstaffed positions in the federal government sector along with the waste of taxpayer money like good furniture thrown in the dumpsters, etc. When they're done gutting the state positions nation wide, we need to start on the federal positions nationwide.

Jerky Gerkenheim
12:17 PM, 7/15/2009

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Jerky, in case you didn't read the news about the budget yesterday, this budget will eliminate 3000 state positions, along with mandatory furloughs and no pay increases. Strickland has already significantly reduced the state work force in the last 2 years through layoffs.

Not that I am arguing with you about reducing high salary positions or other efficiency measures. Just want to make sure the facts are out there.

Ohio mom
7:40 AM, 7/15/2009

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Don't see anything here about reducing the number of state employees and doubling up on job duties as a proposal. Has this been done? What about eliminating the high salary positions in the management ranks? Double up on management/admin. duties. Reduce state employee trips around the state. Less meetings and more work. Examine all programs/state positions/efficiency in the office programs/positions. Why do we need a Lt. Governor?Can't a House member do this job if needed?

Jerky Gerkenheim
7:24 AM, 7/15/2009

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