Is Tennessee in store for a cat-dog budget?
The Standard is left calling once again for state lawmakers to do the right thing and free Tennessee from the financial noose around its next when they resume budget talks today in Nashville.
The options on the table are an income tax, a so-called DOGS budget, which would slash some $945 million in state spending, and what’s now being dubbed the cats budget, which would generate around $800 million in new revenue.
Of the three options available, we urge lawmakers to avoid the DOGS budget at all costs. People are quick to say government should tighten its belt and slash services, but we don’t think they would be pleased with the results that action would produce.
The no-new-taxes DOGS budget would close most state parks. In fact only four of 53 state parks would stand a chance of staying open after July 1: Fall Creek Falls, Pickwick Landing, Paris Landing and Harrison Bay.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation would see a $50 million reduction in its $65 million budget request and the elimination of 2,000 of its 3,200 positions.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation would cut $110 million from its budget for next year. The department would lose $90 million from the transfer of vehicle registration fees to the Department of Safety. The cuts would mean the loss of 311 positions.
One of the most common cries is for the state to do something about TennCare and kick off some of the 1.4 million Tennesseans who rely on the insurance. While TennCare could certainly benefit from reform, folks don’t always realize the federal government pays two-thirds of the $5.7 billion program that replaced Medicaid in 1994.
Eliminating valuable government services is not the direction this state needs to take. That leaves the income tax and the cats budget as the only two viable options.
While the cats budget is certainly better than the grim alternative, it once again uses the sales tax as a crutch. Under the plan, every single county in Tennessee would pay 8.75 percent sales tax. And the local option sales tax would no longer stop at $1,600 the way it does now, meaning the buyer of a new $20,000 car would pay significantly more in sales tax.
But the most disturbing thing about the cats budget is lawmakers are already calling it a patchwork budget, meaning some other alternative will once again have to be explored next year. That leaves us asking how many times are we going to fight this battle?
Thus far, a state income tax has been the only budget solution legislators have seriously considered. The income tax would put Tennessee on firm financial ground, protecting the education of our children and the welfare of our citizens.
If lawmakers can’t realize the practicality of an income tax, we only hope they adopt what’s being called the cats budget and not let this state go to the DOGS.