After releasing his proposed FY2013 state budget, Gov. Bentley received an immediate reaction from legislators; it’s “DOA.” Now lawmakers are drafting another proposed budget as an alternative for consideration this session.
In a Birmingham News article Feb. 13th, Sen. Trip Pittman, R-Montrose, said “he doesn’t anticipate tax increases or bailouts of the General Fund to be part of the education budget he and other legislators have started work on.” Pittman, who chairs the Senate Finance and Taxation-Education Committee, said “he also expects the budget to meet a spending cap imposed by a new law, which will cut trust fund spending by $152 million, 2.7 percent, next year, the LFO estimates.”
One of the governor’s previous ideas was a proposal to change Alabama law so that the General Fund and Education budgets could be combined. That idea met with an immediate and negative reaction, resulting in the ‘plan B’ budget proposal in which Gov. Bentley attempted to shift funds between the two budgets. However, this also prompted lawmakers to balk.
No matter how the two state budgets, it is clear from all sides that there will be deep cuts across the board.
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