When state budget officer Charlie Perusse briefed reporters last week on the estimated shortfall of $2.2 billion in the current (2008-09) budget ending June 30, it didn't immediately hit me how big that was. Only after my colleague Jim Morrill sent along a note asking whether it was a record state budget shortfall (I think so, I told him, but I'd check it out to be sure) did it hit me. This shortfall is bigger than the state General Fund budget was when I arrived in Raleigh 32 years ago as Raleigh correspondent for the old Greensboro Daily News, now the News and Record.
That year, Gov. Jim Hunt's first year in office, the General Fund budget was $1.7 billion.
In 1995 it had grown to $10.2 billion.
The current budget, prior to the shortfall, anyway, was $21 billion and change -- and $22.1 billion is the tab for next year's continuation budget.
Whew. Time flies, and so does money.
Monday, March 16, 2009
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4 comments:
Sounds like an opportune time to slice a nice slab o fat off the states rump roast
And in 32 years how many columns have you written advocating budget cuts?
ZERO.
Say NO to sin taxes. Matter of fact we need to abolish all income taxes and lower sales taxes.
Anon 11:10 Amen. Enough is enough.
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