Budget Adjustment Bill

I found my first state budget debate as a newly elected State Senator - and newly appointed member of the Appropriations Committee - to be quite an education.

As a businessman, I believe I was right to vote with the Republicans against the Democrats’ budget adjustment bill because we simply need more information. There are still several weeks left in the legislative session, and we have plenty of time to find out what we need to know before the full General Assembly has to vote on the budget adjustment bill for next year.

Certainly, if it turns out to make sound fiscal sense, I will be happy to vote in favor of a budget adjustment bill that calls for less spending than we expected to need and no new taxes for the next fiscal year. But, let’s take a closer look at the information we’re relying upon and see how much the state collects in taxes this spring before we make any final decisions.

I had hoped that the Democrats would support our Republican amendment to make some worthwhile changes to their budget adjustment proposal. Among other things, that amendment called for including my initiative to permit state audits of certain well-populated municipalities that heavily rely on state funding. Fortunately, my bill is on the Senate Calendar and we have plenty of time to vote on it before the end of the session. Still, I believe the taxpayers – who deserve to know that the state is spending their hard-earned money wisely – would have been well-served by including my initiative in the budget adjustment bill.