COVID-19 could mean budget cuts for Arkansas state offices
COVID-19 could mean budget cuts for Arkansas state offices
SAID THE PANDEMIC IS AFFECTING THE STATES BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR? UNLIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, HERE IN ARKANSAS THE STATE MUST OPERATE UNDER A BALANCED BUDGET AND TODAY THE GOVERNOR TASKED LEGISLATORS WITH FILLING A PROJECTED 200-MILLION DOLLAR SHORTFALL. (NATS...GOVERNOR SAYS "These emergency actions have caused people to lose their jobs and their livelihood.") AS THE GOVERNOR ADDRESED THE STATE, SENATORS WORE MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCED THEMSELVES. EXCEPT FOR ESSENTIAL SERVICES, LEGISLATORS ARE CONSIDERING 3 TO 5 PERCENT CUTS ACROSS THE BOARD TO STATE OFFICES. <> "what you're going to see though are a tightening of the belt within state government, it is going to hit everybody." "And so this is going to be a shared burden among our state agencies, But, and there will be some impact in the public sphere." <> "Obviously we have a lot of unknowns with our economy right now." LEGISLATORS ARE HOPING FOR THE BEST BUT PREPARING FOR THE WORST. SENATOR MATHEW PITSCH SAYS ANY CUTS WILL BE TARGETED AND THAT A PROJECTED 5 PERCENT DECREASE OF THE NEARLY 5 POINT 8 BILLION DOLLAR BUDGET WILL HURT. <> "So you can kind of do the math and it's one 20th of our budget, that's a pretty good hit." SENATE PRESIDENT JIM HENDREN SAYS THE STATES RAINY DAY FUND MAY BE OF HELP. <> "Arkansas is in a good place because we've accumulated 180 million dollar surplus in just the last year. And so we're not going to have to have the kind of draconian cuts that other states who have not saved for times like this are going to have to make." DEMOCRATS ARE CALLING FOR THEIR OWN CUTS, TO STOP THE NEXT ROUND OF ALREADY APPROVED TAX CUTS FOR THE STATE'S TOP EARNERS. <> "There's a 100 million dollar tax cut that will go into effect soon,but almost all of it goes to the top 1% of our Arkansans. That's why I'm calling to delay, the tax cuts for people making more than 450,000 until this crisis is over." THE GOVERNOR IS ASKING LAWMAKERS TO LOOSEN RESTRICTIONS ON THE STATE'S RAINY DAY FUNDS TO ALLOW THE MONEY BE USED TO FILL GAPS IN THE BUDGET LIKE THEY APPROVE
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COVID-19 could mean budget cuts for Arkansas state offices
Legislators are considering cuts of 3% to 5% across the board.
Legislators are considering cuts of 3% to 5% across the board.
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