Fiscal Responsibility - by Cathy Burton

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The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers.

Fiscal Responsibility
by Cathy Burton
[President of McANA]

Life should not only be about the things that money can buy. But many times it is. Especially when we are talking about necessary medications for seniors, or better educations for our children, or reducing environmental hazards in our water and air. Unfortunately, some of those things that are most dear to our way of life do, at times, boil down to money. This is especially true when it comes to the services that our government is charged to provide.

So our state government can spend all the time in the world drafting and debating new laws. But until funding is achieved to administer the intent and mandates of already existing state laws, until a continuity of human services already depended upon by our citizenry is secure, I believe our State Legislators and our Governor need to focus on crafting a reasonable, well-thought out, balanced budget, before they spend their time (and our tax money) writing new laws.

Some might consider this an overly simple point of view with about a million holes in it that I’m sure many state officials would be happy to point out. But our state budget is way past a slow leak. It is bleeding to death. About the last thing we need is to hit the end of this year’s regular session without figuring out how to repair the hemorrhaging. It seems every time I pick up the paper, I read about another drop in the state’s estimated income, or another newly discovered financial mistake that alters our financial outlook (and not for the better). Certainly, we all make mistakes (although I don’t think I’ve ever made one with a million dollar plus price tag attached), and there will always be circumstances and emergencies develop that no one could have predicted. But we are treading down a self-destructive path when our state government cannot live within its means and makes financial commitments which it cannot fulfill.

The problem was not created overnight, and it certainly will not be solved overnight. But I believe that the State Legislators need to act NOW to put a plan in place to bring our state budget back in balance in two to three years. I also believe that the budget should include a reasonable surplus (maybe 10% of the budget?) which can be reserved to handle those unexpected circumstances and emergencies without cutting vital services to our most vulnerable populations. And I believe this needs to be done before ANYTHING else gets on the agenda.

Of course, there are other issues which need to be addressed through the legislative process. I do not mean to diminish the importance of those matters by suggesting they take a “back seat” to the budget. But if the budget had to be dealt with before everything else, we would not be faced with the cost of a special session. It would also ensure that, when passing laws to improve or create community services, we would know exactly how far the money would go BEFORE we started spending it. BEFORE our expectations are raised and dashed. BEFORE we become so dependent on those services that we can no longer provide for them except through government funding.

Serving in the state legislature and in the governor’s office is a privilege and a public trust, and we have some very fine individuals fulfilling the complicated and exhaustive duties of those offices. They have the brains and the will to fix this problem if they resolve to do it, but that resolve needs to be made NOW. Our country, our state and our local community are facing tough financial times. We cannot afford to continue to do business as usual when it comes to our government finances, or we will find the underpinnings of our neighborhoods eroded beyond repair.

Cathy Burton