The Democrat & Chronicle reports this morning that we finally have a State Budget.
As we all know, the budget is over four months late. You might be tempted to think that the delay resulted from efforts to rein in spending and cut the $9 billion deficit the State is facing. If you did, you'd be wrong.
The budget "highlights" include the fact that State spending will increase by 7.6% and there will be over $1 billion in new taxes. One of the tax increases is the elimination of the exemption on sales taxes for clothing and shoes costing less than $110.00. That ought to help people with lower incomes struggling to balance their budgets.
I was particularly impressed by the fact that the one bi-partisan vote taken in connection with the budget was a 51-8 vote in the Senate to cap local government's ability to raise property taxes. This was largely symbolic since Speaker Silver will not bring the cap to a vote in the Assembly. Still you have to hand it to our State Senators. They clearly believe in limiting spending and taxation....at any level of government but their own.
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2 comments:
Not a single incumbent deserves to be re-elected. The State legislature should be cleaned out. Term limits must be enacted to keep legislators working for us instead of themselves. They get far too comfortable in office for our own good. The state districting lines are a joke. Our state government is the laughing stock of the country. How much more are they going to bleed us dry? What will they tax next? The sun? The air that we breathe? I can just see it now... a fresh air tax. We have to pay for a licensing fee in order to take in oxygen. There is not much left they haven't put a tax or fee on.
Sheldon Silver is an idiot and Pedro Espada is a criminal yet they will both be re-elected by wide margins come November. If they are we deserve what we get. Another couple years of crap.
King:
I think you've covered it all!
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