Watching the wallet in Helena
We all know him. He inherits some money and goes on a spending spree. He is the guy who couldn't manage his money if his life depended on it. He has a new truck, a nice stereo, and new clothes and always eats out-soon credit cards are maxed out and he is filing for bankruptcy.
Unfortunately, the budget passed by House Democrats fits this profile perfectly. They inherited a huge surplus, spent it all on growing government and put the taxpayers on the hook for the further expenses.
New figures show that Democrats are looking to spend well over $4 billion of your money in the next two years. That's $4,210 per minute, or $70.17 per second.
They haven't learned how to manage a budget. They are recklessly spending with no thought of the future. Worst of all, they are willing to risk a major tax increase two or four years from now to pay for their current binge.
Budgeting, by definition, means setting priorities and eliminating excess spending. It requires that we live within our means-all of us do have to do it every day, and the state budget is no different. The legislators in charge of the current budget have doled out $50,000 here and a million there, which quickly added up to millions more in spending than we are collecting in taxes.
So what is wrong with this picture? Gov. Brian Schweitzer proposes spending $400,000 to form a commission to evaluate waste in government; all the while he is collaborating with Democrat legislators to grow government by well over $400 million in their first 60 days in power. Quite honestly, we don't need an efficiency commission-we need common sense.
I would like to quickly point out a few problems with current budget proposed by the Democrats:
€ Spends more than we make first. Why should the government budget be different than our family budget? Over the next two years our state spends $20 million more than we are collecting in taxes. We all know that once a government program is created, it never goes away, so this excess spending can only mean one thing; higher taxes two years from now.
€ Breaks state law. Thankfully, 20 years ago the legislature developed a law that says government can't grow faster than the income of Montana's citizens-has your income grown by 10 percent in the last two years? Unfortunately, if the Democrats get their way, state spending will grow by that much and then some.
€ Doesn't account for fire season. Montana is experiencing one of the worst droughts on record. Our forests are so dry that Gov. Schweitzer has asked the Pentagon to bring our National Guard home from Iraq to help fight the upcoming fires.
Yet, his budget would leave our state with very little money to pay for firefighting costs. In fact, under the proposed budget, the wildfire costs from 1988 would exceed all of the state's reserve funds-not just fire funds, but all reserve funds.
€ Assumes never-ending economic growth. Less than two years ago, Montana was in a $230 million hole. Since then, our economy has rebounded nicely. Instead of doing the responsible thing and creating safeguards against another deficit like we had two years ago, this budget doesn't even consider that a downturn in state revenue is possible.
In fact, the Democrats are even creating several new government programs that will demand money even when our economy falls on hard times.
Sadly, the State of Montana is about to receive one of the worst budgets ever dreamed up inside the walls of the state capitol building. The only good news is that Republican legislators will hold the Democrats feet to the fire during every step of this budgeting process.
The state budget process should be just like a family budget. How much money do we make? What are our priorities? Cut the expenses that we can't afford. Few of us have the ability to demand more money when we have blown through our income-and none of us likes it when the state raises taxes.
The bottom line is that budgeting is about accountability. The Democrats in Helena must be willing to carefully evaluate their spending and pass a budget that doesn't break state law or cause us to raise taxes a few years from now.
It's time for the Democrats to stop overspending and live within their means, just like the rest of us.
Rep. Roy Brown, R-Billings, is the Montana House Republican Leader. House Bill 2, the state budget bill, was passed by the House on a 52-48 vote on Monday, March 21.