As Gov. John Carney urges lawmakers to pump the brakes on spending this year, GOP lawmakers are concerned about how he wants to do it.
Republicans say the devil is in the details.
House Minority Leader Mike Ramone says he’s concerned about just throwing money toward healthcare and education, which make up approximately two-thirds of the state’s budget.
“There were certain things and certain initiatives that I feel getting more money into the classrooms and doing more to empower the teachers in the classrooms is urgent, and I didn’t notice anything from that standpoint in education," Ramone says.
Ramone says he wants to reduce healthcare costs by preventing emergencies and helping people proactively address health and illnesses.
"Until we start digesting healthcare instead of sick care, we're never going to get it right," Ramone says. "If we keep having to fix people when they are sick, and we can't find a way to motivate and enhance and educate on health, we're going to keep always being behind the ball, and quite frankly, the costs are running away. The baby boomers are a big group, it's kind of floating through the numbers."
Ramone adds he is disappointed he didn’t see any considerations for tax reductions or consolidations. He notes the state has one of the highest real estate transfer taxes, which he says was supposed to be temporary, and a gross receipts tax, also originally introduced as temporary.
State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn adds they need to evaluate any new items in the Governor’s budget that will cost the state in future years too.
“We’ve had some really extraordinary revenue over the past few years, that is going to be trailing off, and in fact, we’re probably going to be in a position coming up not necessarily this fiscal year but next fiscal year where tough decisions are going to have to be made," Pettyjohn says.
Pettyjohn says he is happy to see the state will not yet be dipping into reserves.
"The budget reserve account is staying stable," he says. "They're not adding money, they're not removing money from it, which means that we are pretty much living within our means this year."
Like Ramone, Pettyjohn notes healthcare costs are a major concern,
"And that is taking away from other things like education, that is taking away from public safety, that is taking away from other things that we could be doing," Pettyjohn says. "Healthcare costs are a huge driver right now in what we are paying as a state."
Pettyjohn says they need to take a look at where exactly those healthcare cost increases are coming from in order to address and minimize them.
Joint Finance Committee co-chair Sen. Trey Paradee says Carney's budget proposal sets the stage for maintaining sensible spending over the next 2-3 years.
“There is not going to be a lot of room for new programs or expanding existing programs," he says. "Because so much is taken up by pay policy and healthcare cost increases.”
Paradee - a Democrat - notes they don’t want to cut benefits or reduce eligibility, but says there is no way to address the exploding costs without taking a hard look at certain programs.
"We do have a commitment to our retirees, to our current state employees, so it is going to be a challenge going forward," Paradee says.
Paradees message to fellow lawmakers is to carefully consider any bills with fiscal notes this session.
He adds he is happy to see big investments in education and the state’s workforce - adding he’s confident they will get through this budget process without a need for any additional revenue.
Paradee says he thinks the budget stabilization fund is in a good spot for the next few years and doesn’t anticipate any tax increases either.
The Joint Finance Committee will begin evaluating Carney’s budget plan next week.
