At Current Rate, Montana Facing a $366,000,000 Deficit By 2013
March 5, 2010, 8:46 am
Legislators received a cold, hard dose of fiscal reality Wednesday, learning that the state’s economy is not rebounding from this recession as quickly as it has from past recessions and that in the 2011 session they will face a projected $366 million state budget deficit by mid-2013. Ninety-five of the 150 lawmakers came to town, giving up a day of legislative pay, to attend a day of training put on by the legislative staff and featuring some national and state speakers. The news was generally bleak, but not unexpected. It came as Gov. Brian Schweitzer is on the verge of cutting state agency budgets by at least $40.5 million, or nearly 5 percent, because of falling state tax collections. “We do see some historic challenges,” said Legislative Finance Chairman Llew Jones, a Republican representative from Conrad. In a question to one speaker, Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City, said reports from the recent National Governors Association meeting indicated that states are going to have to “resize” their government because of the impact of the recession on their budgets. “I would agree,” said Chris Whatley, Washington director of the Council of State Governments. “The backside of the state fiscal crisis is state government is going to look a lot different than it does today.” Patrick Barkey, director of the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research, predicted a 1.3 percent growth in the state’s economy in 2010, far lower than the average annual growth rate of 3.3 percent rate from 2002-2007 but better than the negative 1.2 percent growth rates in 2008 and 2009. From 2010-2013, he forecast an economic growth rate of 2.4 percent.
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Comments 
Jan Rogers
Posted on: 2010-03-14
Maybe Gov. Schweitzer could cancel the order for $800 mil worth of wind machines???
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