As you probably know, the state took in 1.5 billion extra bucks this year. We missed the perfect opportunity to be responsible with the extra cash, yet the beast of unquenchable thirst for gratuitous spending won the fight and government was fattened again. Since Sen. Glenn McConnell recognizes the need for constitutional restraint, I’ve been appointed to a subcommittee that will tackle his bill. We’ll meet on October 24 at 1pm in Gressette 105. I understand we’ll take these meetings around the state to listen to the frustrated taxpayers.
McConnell writes in an op-ed:
…There will always be more needs than revenue no matter what the economic times and the amount of available new funds. Government must, therefore, temper its conduct to spend so that, over the highs and lows in revenue forecasts, the necessary revenue will be there to fund essential needs without pressure for new taxes. When government is flush with money, the spending goes up to fund many new initiatives — some good, some questionable, and some not good. In other words, projects get funded not so much out of merit but merely because the money was available. Some one-time expenditures also occur the same way.
In the face of a bountiful taxpayer buffet, government cannot control its appetite so its stomach must be stapled. At stake is the need to at least control the rate of growth in the recurring base. Thusly, I have introduced a constitutional amendment to cap the rate of spending of state government. Government would be limited to growth at an amount that would not exceed the rate of population growth plus the growth in personal income. Basically, government should not grow any bigger than it needs to be or any faster than people's ability to pay for it…to read the full article
BTW, the above picture is not my belly, not yet.
