Sunday, July 03, 2005
All our (State)'s Largess
Happy Sunday!
In December 2002, The Governor's Commission to Promote Efficiency and Savings in State Spending released a report with 80 recommendations to help the state tighten its belt while offering better services. I'll give Easley credit for creating and empowering the Commission to report...after all, North Carolina has been stuck in fiscal crises, like most states, for nearly five years now, facing General Fund revenues up to $1.55 billion short of projections. In a state with a $16 billion budget, that's no small potatoes.
While it's a little late, the News and Observer finally saw fit to provide an update on the progress made towards the Commission's recommendations. Unsurprisingly, not much has been made on 12 of the largest cost savers for the state government...including such novel concepts as selling excess land, reducing duplicity of university programs among the 16 UNC campuses, and requiring zero-based budgets.
Word of note to members of the Democratic leadership in Raleigh: taxpayers really don't like being told that taxes must be raised, or vital programs like Transportation cut, when there are still numerous ways for the state to save money...if only legislators would get off their asses.
In December 2002, The Governor's Commission to Promote Efficiency and Savings in State Spending released a report with 80 recommendations to help the state tighten its belt while offering better services. I'll give Easley credit for creating and empowering the Commission to report...after all, North Carolina has been stuck in fiscal crises, like most states, for nearly five years now, facing General Fund revenues up to $1.55 billion short of projections. In a state with a $16 billion budget, that's no small potatoes.
While it's a little late, the News and Observer finally saw fit to provide an update on the progress made towards the Commission's recommendations. Unsurprisingly, not much has been made on 12 of the largest cost savers for the state government...including such novel concepts as selling excess land, reducing duplicity of university programs among the 16 UNC campuses, and requiring zero-based budgets.
Word of note to members of the Democratic leadership in Raleigh: taxpayers really don't like being told that taxes must be raised, or vital programs like Transportation cut, when there are still numerous ways for the state to save money...if only legislators would get off their asses.
