I need clarification on State Budgets

[IceBergSLiM]

I just don't understand how they can pass a budget at the sstate level with a projected loss in the billions. I just don't get it.

 

[Chryso]

They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

oh yeah why not?

 

[Capt Caveman]

That's what rainy day funds are for.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending sprees.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

I'm confused is this something that exists or is this a fanciful idea?

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

Far more likely the building's book value is 0

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

I'm confused is this something that exists or is this a fanciful idea?

which part? the reserves or my idea of multi-year budgets?

Governments do create reserve funds when they can. I am really sick of short term thinking in government. This is one place you really need to think beyond your nose. There are governments that don't overly concern themselves with maintaining yearly balanced budget, rather, a 5 year balanced budget for example.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

Yep. What usually happens though (at least in Georgia) is that if there is excess money left over in the budget, they call a special session to find ways to spend that money....instead of, you know, tucking it away for a 'rainy day' or giving it back to tax payers.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

So the state and a person aren't the same then?

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

So the state and a person aren't the same then?

I do not know actually. I know most towns are usually incorporate meaning they are just a corporation and as such have all the same legal rights as a person.

 

[rudder]

Some states have laws requiring a balanced budget. Tennessee is one of them. There is a drop in tax collections so cuts are being required across the board. If there is not a signed balanced budget by July 1, the state government shuts down. It has done it in the past.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

Hell, quite a few people have personal budgets that run in the negative.
And it is for the same reason that the states go over budget, because no one is willing to make sacrifices. To make a budget work you have to prioritize and cut the things at the bottom.
But instead the states have a brilliant plan, they cut the things at the top and when people scream they either raise taxes or go further in debt. No one seems to stop to consider that there might be things lower on the priority list for governmental budget money that could be cut before we stop trash pickup.
We should have long ago grabbed our pitchforks and torches and marched down to the capital and demanded some answers.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

So back on topic... in my state they are predicted to pass a budget that will create a 6-8 billion deficit after 2009. Why would they pass a budget knowing it would create a deficit. Why don't they just cut programs?

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

So the state and a person aren't the same then?

I do not know actually. I know most towns are usually incorporate meaning they are just a corporation and as such have all the same legal rights as a person.

Actually you already said they were not the same by stating a difference between them. Assuming you know that people have a physical corporeal body capable of loitering.

Corporeal.. don't hear that one often. Good work.

edit: although I think your use may have been redundant

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

Montana has a two year cycle (the legislature meets for 90 days every other year) and it is a real pita. They do not appear to be anywhere close to figuring out the budget and are halfway through the session as the revenue projections keep dropping. There are definite downsides.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

Yep. What usually happens though (at least in Georgia) is that if there is excess money left over in the budget, they call a special session to find ways to spend that money....instead of, you know, tucking it away for a 'rainy day' or giving it back to tax payers.

I don't believe in refunding the tax dollar back to the tax payer, that just eats it away since there was a cost to collect it in the first place and you are going to incur another cost to refund it?

If the people really don't care for long term viability and just want to run year to year budget, then the best way to reconcile the books is to lower next year's tax rate. Collect less and use the surplus to balance out.

I would just put it into reserve for rainy day.

 

[darkxshade]

Spending more than you have is the American way... this applies to the states as well.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Farang

Originally posted by: Chryso
They don't have to abide by the same rules that we do in our personal lives.

It is ridiculous, they should have to. To start with, I demand that the state capitol building be ticketed for loitering. It has been just standing there for decades. I bet you if I stood there for less than a day in the same spot I'd be hassled by police.

The building is just an asset of the state. The state doesn't have physical corporeal body to loiter.

So the state and a person aren't the same then?

I do not know actually. I know most towns are usually incorporate meaning they are just a corporation and as such have all the same legal rights as a person.

Actually you already said they were not the same by stating a difference between them. Assuming you know that people have a physical corporeal body capable of loitering.

Corporeal.. don't hear that one often. Good work.

edit: although I think your use may have been redundant

Well they have the same rights as a person with the benefit of being excluded from laws pertaining to the corporeal. For instance I don't think the state can be brought up on DUI charges either.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf

Originally posted by: sdifox

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: Capt Caveman
That's what rainy day funds are for.

I don't follow.

reserves carried over from previous budgets. I don't understand the call for yearly balanced budget. 5 year cycle makes a lot more sense when you are talking about government. Otherwise you end up with those stupid year end spending spree.

Montana has a two year cycle (the legislature meets for 90 days every other year) and it is a real pita. They do not appear to be anywhere close to figuring out the budget and are halfway through the session as the revenue projections keep dropping. There are definite downsides.

financial cycle, not governance. wtf, they meet every other year???

 

[Slick5150]

Some state constitutions specifically do not allow passing a deficit budget. Michigan is one for example that I know of.

 

[sdifox]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
So back on topic... in my state they are predicted to pass a budget that will create a 6-8 billion deficit after 2009. Why would they pass a budget knowing it would create a deficit. Why don't they just cut programs?

The question is really do they have a plan to recover from that? If they have a sound recovery plan, say in 5 years they can more or less get back to balanced and next 5-20 with a little surplus to cut into the deficit, I don't have a problem with it.

But if it's just one solid 5 year block of deficit, you got some serious issues there.