First Look at the Rhode Island Budget

Details about the budget that the House Finance Committee approved today are starting to trickle out. These details are from the Associated Press via WJAR-TV.

I think that the most current numbers mean that the state must come up with about $250,000,000 in budget cuts…

[In February] the state was facing a $300 million budget deficit by the end of next year…

Since then, the state's financial picture has improved. Budget officials announced in May that the state had $57 million more than expected.

The House budget contains at least one small step towards welfare reform…

Carcieri had proposed reducing the time on welfare from 60 to 30 months. The House would not reduce the total time, but would count time spent on other state's welfare programs toward the 60 month cap. The plan would allow welfare recipients to count some education and training toward their work requirements.

A compromise has been arrived at concerning state health insurance for the children of illegal immigrants…

Under the plan, immigrant children would have to enroll in the state's health-insurance program for the poor by the end of the year. After that, no new noncitizens would be allowed to enroll, even if they are in the United States legally.

And the House leadership's flat tax as well as the Governor’s phaseout of the car tax are both present…

Both the governor's and the House budget plans include some tax relief, such as a lowering of the car tax.

The House plan includes a flat income tax that would benefit the state's richest residents. Rhode Island now taxes people in the highest income bracket at 9.9 percent after deductions. Under the plan, taxpayers would have the option of paying an 8 percent flat tax that allows no deductions.

UPDATE:

Scott Mayerowitz of the Projo reports on a few more budget details…

I guess an overall cut in spending is not (actuarily) necessary…

The tax and spending plan for the coming year -- only unveiled today -- raises spending by 4.9 percent.

The budget assumes a reduction in the number of state employees…

The Democratic lawmakers chose not to reduce state employee benefits, as the Republican governor had proposed, but left it up to the Carcieri’s staff to somehow reduce the workforce enough to save $36.5 million…

Lawmakers balked at implementing a number of changes to the state’s personnel system that Carcieri had pushed for, saying that most benefits were protected by union contracts. Carcieri’s proposals were aimed at letting some of the more senior workers to retire. Instead, lawmakers raised their estimates about turnover and how long a position would remain vacant.

And another reasonable welfare reform appears ready to be implemented…

Carcieri also wanted to strip benefits from parents who don't comply with their employment and training plans after three months, down from 18 months. Lawmakers chose to go for six months.