Budget cuts not an easy thing to do

A 69-page report on possible cuts for the Nebraska state budget illustrates just how difficult it is to rein in spending when federal and state programs are so intertwined.

The state definitely has a problem; last month a group of state lawmakers estimated the budget would be $986 million in the hole over the next two and a half years. That was better than the $1.4 billion budget gap predicted by the state economic forecasting board last October.

The Unicameral has already cut about $382 million to deal with revenue shortfalls, and most state employees have taken two unpaid furlough days this year, and about 3,000 managers had their pay frozen.

Federal stimulus money will runout next year, and more cuts will have to be made.

But they won't be easy; for instance, cutting 83 jobs in the child welfare office would save $2.2 million, but the resulting cuts would cost the state $2.7 million in federal funding.

Another idea includes cutting aid to county governments by $9.6 million, which would mean, you guessed it, more local taxes or, less likely, drastically cut local services.

This fall, representatives of the Nebraska State Bar Association told the Gazette that 30 county courts -- including Benkelman, Hayes Center and Stockville -- might have to be closed if the 10 percent across-the-board state budget cut is implemented.

We've seen many examples when, faced with cuts, budgets will be presented where popular programs are cut or eliminated in order to generate enough uproar that a tax hike can be ramrodded through.

That won't work, at least on the state level, this time.

"State government will look different after this fiscal year," Sen. Lavon Heideman, chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee told The Associated Press. "It's going to be leaner, and there could be some elimination of services and programs, too."

The senator is probably right.

Still, we bet there are plenty of places for the budget to be cut before the average citizen can tell the difference.

You can read the complete report here:

http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/pdf/reports/committee/select_special/lr542fin...