- The "signs are certainly pointing" to state budget trouble after a new report that shows a drop in tax collections while spending continues to outpace projections, Ohio's budget director said yesterday.
Most of the blame goes to the sputtering Ohio economy, which Gov. Ted Strickland's Council of Economic Advisers says poses the greatest economic challenge for the state since early in the recovery from the 2001 recession.
I haven't checked out the righty blogs today, but no doubt it's all Strickland's fault that he hasn't in one year been able to pull us out of the hole that 16 years of Republican rule got us into. Oh, and if we just cut taxes everything would be fine.
Certainly news like this won't make anyone happy.
- Strickland already has announced budget cuts in recent weeks, including postponement of a planned restoration of dental benefits for low-income adults and the delay of planned increases in Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals and other health-care providers.
Strickland took what I thought was a calculated risk by balancing the last budget with some one-time revenues and accounting maneuvers that can't be duplicated. Thanks to an overheated mortgage banking industry, that gamble is coming up snakes. Hope he has more ideas.
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