Spending nearly double ’97 figure
Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
State lawmakers learned Tuesday that state government’s expenses nearly doubled the past 10 years.
Expenditures increased from $ 8. 585 billion in fiscal 1997 to $ 15. 648 billion in fiscal 2006, which ended June 30. The numbers were in a report by the Bureau of Legislative Research summing up spending by state agencies and institutions for the decade.
Among major entities, the state Department of Health and Human Services’ expenses increased from $ 2. 139 billion to $ 4. 198 billion. The General Education Division’s expenses increased from $ 1. 689 billion to $ 2. 873 billion.
State government expenses include expenditures from general revenue (mainly the sales and income taxes ), special revenue, federal funds, cash funds (such as tuition and fees ), trust funds and other sources, the report said.
Lawmakers received the 396-page report on the first day of the budget hearings by the Legislative Council and the Joint Budget Committee for state agencies for fiscal 2008, which begins July 1, and 2009.
Nearly 70 lawmakers showed up for the first day of the hearings, the bureau said. The hearings continue off and on into December.
The state budget for the current year, fiscal 2007, is $ 18. 9 billion, said Mike Stormes, the state’s budget administrator. The budget generally exceeds the actual expenditures of the agencies.
Lawmakers expect to receive Gov. Mike Huckabee’s proposed general revenue budget for fiscal 2008 and 2009 on Nov. 9, said Kim Arnall, the bureau’s assistant director for fiscal services. That’s two days after voters elect somebody to succeed Huckabee as governor on Jan. 9.
On Nov. 9, the state Department of Finance and Administration will release its revenue projections for fiscal 2008 and 2009 and possibly increase its projection for the $ 721 million revenue surplus as of June 30, 2007.
Whoever succeeds Huckabee as governor is free to submit his own budget proposal in place of Huckabee’s.
Rep. Benny Petrus, D-Stuttgart, said in an interview that House members are going to be “watching pretty close” on the proposed budgets for state agencies.
“I think we are tired of business as usual,” he said.
The Legislature in the 2005 regular session started being fiscally conservative and “actually created some of the surplus itself by not funding everything,” said Petrus, who is in line to be the top House official for 2007 and 2008.
Petrus said the surplus probably won’t go as far as people think it will, because there are so many ideas about what to do with it.
Legislators have mentioned using the surplus for, among other things, providing state funding for school buildings. Some also have suggested the surplus shows the state should cut some taxes.
Petrus said he’s relying on Rep. Chris Thyer, D-Jonesboro, and Keven Anderson, R-Rogers, to keep abreast of state budget matters. He declined to say whether he plans to appoint either Thyer or Anderson as co-chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, which handles the appropriation bills that determine how much agencies can spend.
Sen. Jack Critcher, D-Batesville, who is in line to be the top Senate official the next two years, said in an interview that the proposed budgets “are like a grab bag. You never know what’s going to be inside until you go through them.”
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