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Title: McDonnell's Deep Cuts Send Shock Waves in Virginia (500 jobs to be cut)
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Published: Feb 19, 2010
Author: Bob Lewis
Post Date: 2010-02-19 01:07:04 by Nebuchadnezzar
Keywords: None
Views: 195
Comments: 11
McDonnell's Deep Cuts Send Shock Waves in Virginia State reacts to massive cuts By BOB LEWIS Updated 9:49 AM EST, Thu, Feb 18, 2010 Print Email Share Buzz up! TWITTER FACEBOOK Getty Images Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed deep, unprecedented cuts to public schools, the state government work force and health and welfare safety net programs in a $2.1 billion bid to balance a critically troubled state budget. The Republican governor, who ruled out any tax boosts before he took office a month ago, sent shock waves across a General Assembly struggling with its own budget plans and through teachers, state workers. The cuts include rolling back the base state support for local public schools to 2008 levels, using buses longer and not funding sports coaches in education. McDonnell's cuts also would necessitate about 500 state employee layoffs, many of them at mental health facilities slated for cutbacks or closures. Other cuts include five unpaid days off annually for state workers, closing five state parks and slashing a programs that aid the homeless and prevent teen pregnancies. Click here for a complete list of proposed cuts. "All the cuts gave me heartburn. All of them were difficult because I know that behind every cut there is a Virginian -- somebody in this room or somebody out of the 7.8 million people we have -- that might be affected by that,'' McDonnell said after outlining his cuts at a news conference. After weeks of private talks with senior legislators and the staffs of the House and Senate budget-writing committees, McDonnell detailed what he has recommended to them for reconciling a $4 billion shortfall in revenue the state projects through 2012. The General Fund budget for fiscal 2010 is about $14 billion. House and Senate money committees report their new budgets for fiscal 2011 and 2012 on Sunday. As Virginia continues to struggle with an economic downturn that will cost state government an estimated $11 billion from mid-2007 through 2012, however, McDonnell said he will increase the state's official forecast of anticipated revenue by $200 million over the next two fiscal years. Finance Secretary said the projection was based on marginal recent improvement in collections of the state corporation tax and the levy paid to record real estate deeds, wills, lawsuits and contracts. From education, McDonnell recommends $731 million in cuts over the next 2{ years. Public employee compensation, retirement and benefits account for $966 million in reductions and savings. And Health and Human Resources programs face $345 million in combined cuts far deeper than those proposed by Democratic former Gov. Tim Kaine four weeks before he ceded the office to McDonnell. For schools, the reductions come after deep cuts that Kaine had already mandated, largely to non-teaching support staff, in two years of budget cuts that totaled $7 billion. "In the last biennium, we lost 4,350 teachers," an angry Robley S. Jones, chief lobbyist for the Virginia Education Association, said after McDonnell's comments. "They're throwing the children of Virginia's poorest localities under the bus," Jones said. "What does Lee County do? Lee County is 80 percent dependent on state funds? The Virginia disparity is already one of the worst in the nation." Democratic leaders were dubious at best. "He's shredding the safety net,'' said Janet Howell, D-Fairfax County and a member of the Finance Committee. "Look what he's cutting: free clinics, the homeless, teen pregnancy, school breakfasts, insurance for children. Up to now, we've been able to protect our most vulnerable citizens and now they're at risk." Some Democrats don't see it easily reconciled in time for the scheduled March 13 adjournment. Sen. R. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, another Finance Committee member, said he can't imagine Senate Democrats accepting all of McDonnell's cuts. "I'm glad this is out in the public domain now,'' he said, leafing through McDonnell's list of proposed cuts. ``The public needs to know the impact of this. This brings it home.'' The biggest bite to schools, $226 million, comes from returning the spending base to 2008 levels. The state would save $130 million from eliminating supplements for salaries of coaches and department chairs. School buses would remain in service for 15 years instead of 12, a $19.5 million savings. School breakfasts would disappear. McDonnell said five furlough days for state employees in each of the next two years would be offset by a 3 percent bonus for Christmas 2011. The state will continue to make retirement contributions for existing employees' contributions, he said, but the state will reap substantial savings by requiring that new state hires contribute one-fifth to their state retirement plans.
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#1. To: Nebuchadnezzar (#0)
he's still a couple of billion short of balance.
Being a Republican means you get to choose your own reality.
Too bad Virginia can't crank up the printing presses like the fedgov, ain't it?
Day after day, Maybe the Administration should stop trying to destroy the coal industry...just a thought.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
And a stupid one at that. You're going to see more nuclear power generation going forward which would do what to the coal indutry through market forces? You've a 19th century mind that's been kicked in the head by a horse...
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace Badeye, that's one of those things you think about but aren't supposed to say out loud you silly.
Goldi-Lox: You're one dumb-fucking bitch.
While I applaug Obama's embrace of conservative energy policy, it takes about 10 to 12 years to bring a new reactor on-line. I say drop all subsidies for all industries and let's see how Solar and Wind do against Coal and NG. What do you say?
Goldi-Lox: You're one dumb-fucking bitch.
I'd say that your electric bills would go up by a factor of 10...
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace I thought Southern Co said 2015 if they are approved, as expected, end of next year...?
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace Yep. Millions outta work, despair setting in with hundreds of thousands with each passing quarter, record foreclosures, bankruptcies, state's defaulting...but hey lets fuck the coal miners. The sad part? The United Mine Workers vote and financially support the Democrats from local to state to federal.But hey, no biggie, the UMW bosses are making six figures, and have access to all those millions of union dues millions...
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
It'll be years before the lawsuits protesting everything from quality of soil tests used to water table contamination. It won't be one big suit that keeps it from being built. It will be delay and death by a thousand tiny legal cuts. And the system is so rigged against ANY plant being built anywhere. These idiots stopped Yuca Mountain facility claiming 'it could contaminate the water table'. Even though it was choosen specifically because there was NO WATER TABLE. Its a salt mountain in the middle of the DESSSSEEERRRT (ode to Sam Kinninson). Watch and see. Owe=Bama will chat this up for the next two years, knowing it ain't gonna happen. The envirowacko's that voted 100 percent Obama will block it via every trick in the book.
my anti groupie can't get through life without me.
Someone's DEEEEP into the Crown Royal tonight...
The fact I was an RM2 escapes you obviously, and what that implies. Badeye posted on 2007-01-30 16:42:29 ET Reply Trace Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposed deep, unprecedented cuts to public schools, the state government work force and health and welfare safety net programs in a $2.1 billion bid to balance a critically troubled state budget.
#2. To: go65 (#1)
he's still a couple of billion short of balance.
Alone on a hill,
The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still
But nobody wants to know him,
They can see that he's just a fool,
And he never gives an answer,
But the fool on the hill
#3. To: The Fool On The Hill (#2)
#4. To: Badeye (#3)
(Edited)
Maybe the Administration should stop trying to destroy the coal industry...just a thought.
#5. To: Badeye (#3)
Maybe the Administration should stop trying to destroy the coal industry...just a thought.
#6. To: war (#4)
And a stupid one at that. You're going to see more nuclear power generation going forward which would do what to the coal indutry through market forces?
#7. To: Nebuchadnezzar (#6)
#8. To: Nebuchadnezzar (#6)
While I applaug Obama's embrace of conservative energy policy, it takes about 10 to 12 years to bring a new reactor on-line.
#9. To: Nebuchadnezzar (#5)
#10. To: Nebuchadnezzar (#6)
(Edited)
#11. To: Badeye (#9)
Millions outta work, despair setting in with hundreds of thousands with each passing quarter
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