By Staff
Johnny Mack Morrow
This week marks the start of the second half of the 2008 legislative session, and there is still much work to do. The House has been productive, passing important bills, from campaign finance reform to sanctions for employers that hire illegal immigrants. We have worked for the most part in a bipartisan fashion, accomplishing much, and expecting more in the coming weeks.
Unfortunately, the Senate has picked up where it left off last year and has moved slowly so far this session. From the first federal Constitution to the creation of our own state government, it was part of the design that the Senate would be more deliberative and work at a slower pace than the House. However, Senators seem at times to take that part of their job much too seriously.
Nevertheless, there are duties and obligations we both must accomplish before the final gavel comes down at the end of the session. The House is ready, and we hope the Senate is ready as well.
The budgets will be one of the first things considered. The Education Trust Fund and the General Fund budgets must be passed, and this year's budget may be the most difficult in recent memory to balance.
Right now economic estimates predict that there will be seven percent less revenue next year for education than what is currently being spent. With the slowdown in the economy, the two greatest sources of school revenue–earmarked state sales and income taxes–are generating less revenue, and therefore cuts will have to be made.
The governor's budget proposal cuts higher education much more than K-12. While elementary and high schools are looking at a 2.5 percent cut in state funding, Alabama's colleges and universities are slated under the governor's plan for a 13 percent cut.
The situation does not get much better when dealing with the General Fund, the part of state budget that pays for everything from state troopers to public health. The governor's budget has almost $2 billion in General Fund spending, but is almost $300 million less than what department heads have asked for. The Department of Corrections reports that our prisons are overcrowded and in need of major repairs. The court system says that more funds for probation officers and other operations are needed. Mental health, child protection services, public safety, and many other important state programs ask for more funds. But the revenue may simply not be there, and no one wants to raise taxes on working people.
The biggest hole could very well be in Medicaid. Proposed federal changes could cost Alabama at least $578 million in federal funding next year as Washington tries to shift more costs to the states.
Alabama has a bare bones health program that serves almost 1 million people. The program is critical for many aspects of our health system, from pregnancy services to nursing home care, especially in rural communities.
There is no easy path for this year's budgets. Some solutions have been floated, but there is no consensus yet on how to fill what huge gaps exist. The second half of the legislative session looks like it will be a difficult time.
Time to get to work.
Johnny Mack Morrow is a state representative for Franklin County. His column appears each Wednesday.