Budgets

President Obama Calls for Restoring Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Requirements; New Requirements Will Put Fiscal Responsibility into Law

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, DC- At an event this afternoon in the East Room, President Obama will call for a return to statutory pay-as-you-go requirements. More than 40 members of Congress will attend the event – including many members of the House Blue Dog Coalition.

Listed below are the Members who will be on stage with the President:

Senator Claire McCaskill
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer
Representative John Spratt
Representative Baron Hill
Representative Peter Welch
Representative Xavier Becerra
Representative George Miller
Representative Allen Boyd
Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin    » read more »

Statement By Senator Harkin At The Hearing To Examine The Us Department Of Health And Human Services Budget

June 9, 2009 -- “Madam Secretary, I welcome you to your first hearing with this Subcommittee.

“You have a challenging job ahead of you – arguably the most challenging job in the cabinet. Your responsibilities include not only comprehensive health reform, preparing for a possible pandemic influenza, and addressing the costs of entitlements, but also biomedical research, substance abuse prevention, drug safety, and providing health-care services to many of our most vulnerable citizens. I am not quite sure whether to congratulate you, or commiserate with you. But I certainly look forward to working with you cooperatively in any way I can.    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today applauded President Obama’s decision to submit a proposal to Congress to reinstate “pay-as-you-go” budget rules.

Senator Boxer said, “When PAYGO was in place during the Clinton Administration, Democrats in Congress balanced the federal budget and created a surplus. When the rule was ignored under President Bush and the Republican Congress, the result was record deficits and debt. Reinstating this common sense principle is long overdue—it will help us maintain fiscal discipline while we continue the hard work of rebuilding America’s economy.”    » read more »

June 9, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today released the details of his plans to close a projected revenue decline for the remaining two months of fiscal year 2009.

“Last month, I signed into a law a State budget that reduced spending by $500 million and that made important structural changes to Maine’s government,” Governor Baldacci said. “The budget also left us in a position to deal with the further erosion of State revenue for the current year. When we passed the budget, we knew that our work wasn’t done. We will continue to meet the challenges before us and take responsible actions to ensure that State has a balanced budget.”    » read more »

06/08/2009 -- Taking immediate action to reduce spending as the state faces a $24.3 billion deficit, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed Executive Order S-09-09 to eliminate funding for contracts entered into by state agencies and departments after March 1, 2009 for all goods and services excluding those necessary for public safety and to prohibit entering into any new contracts.

Additionally, the order directs all state departments to develop and submit to the Department of Finance plans to reduce their future spending on contracts and purchases by at least 15 percent no later than 30 days after the adoption of the revised 2009-10 budget.    » read more »

06/05/2009 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:

Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker Bass, Senate Leader Steinberg, Assemblyman Blakeslee, Senator Hollingsworth, my fellow constitutional officers and my fellow servants of the people.

First of all, I want to thank you for the gracious invitation to address you here today and to address the people of California.

Today I want to talk about financial crisis. Three months ago the members of this body came together to set aside their ideological differences and did what they believed was best for California. We solved $36 billion of a $42 billion deficit.    » read more »

FBI Director Mueller testifies before CJS Appropriations Subcommittee

04-Jun-2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.), Chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee, today chaired a hearing on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fiscal year 2010 budget. The hearing included testimony from FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Senator Mikulski’s prepared statement follows:

“Good morning and welcome. Today the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee will hear from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Robert Mueller about the FBI’s budget and priorities for fiscal year 2010.    » read more »

June 4, 2009 -- CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The state must reduce spending now to address forecasts of significantly lower revenues over the next three years, Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal said today in announcing $231.6 million in budget cuts for the fiscal year which begins next month.

The reductions reflect efforts to cut ten percent of state agency budgets, with a particular emphasis on reducing ongoing operating expenses.

"These are significant, often painful cuts," Freudenthal said. "You can't cut more than $230 million out of one fiscal year's budget without affecting worthwhile programs, but it needs to be done. Wyoming has been fortunate to experience dramatic increases in revenues in recent years, but we have to tighten our belts to address changes in revenues."    » read more »

New budget closes total FY10 gap of $5.1 billion, maintains commitment to education & core services while reducing reliance on reserves

BOSTON– Thursday, June 04, 2009 – Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick today released a new Fiscal Year 2010 budget proposal following a dramatic and unanticipated revenue decline between January and April.

The revised version of an already austere budget proposal reflects a revenue loss of $1.5 billion in the three months since the Governor filed his original recommendations, and is intended to serve as a blueprint for lawmakers currently negotiating the differences in their own budgets.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- “Good morning. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education will now come to order.

“I want to start by welcoming Secretary Duncan. I have met Mr. Duncan a few times now, and I chaired his confirmation hearing on the HELP Committee, but this is his first appearance before this subcommittee. So today, Mr. Secretary, we get to talk about money.

“Every year when Congress considers the President’s budget, you hear people say it’s a critical moment in the Nation’s history. In hindsight, some of those moments were probably more important than others. But I would submit that when it comes to education, this is truly one of them.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today convened a hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget request for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Senator Feinstein chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies and presided over the hearing. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar appeared as the primary witness.    » read more »

June 3, 2009 -- Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Governor Ted Strickland today issued the following statement on the passage of the Ohio Senate’s version of the State Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2010-2011:

“The Ohio Senate has now had the opportunity to outline the priorities of the majority of the chamber. It is disappointing that Senate Republicans stripped the budget bill of the very proposals that will create jobs for Ohioans and promote lasting economic growth. The Senate rejected a transformational plan to better educate our students for success in the modern economy. And they rejected a series of innovative and inexpensive proposals that would provide 110,000 more Ohioans with access to affordable private health care.    » read more »

Record shortfall a challenge; stimulus dollars, cuts help

June 03, 2009 -- FRANKFORT, Ky. – Faced with the largest shortfall in modern Kentucky history, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear today unveiled a proposed budget for next year that does not raise taxes on working families and businesses while preserving basic funding for classroom instruction, health care programs for the most vulnerable and key areas of public safety.    » read more »

Statement of Governor Jim Douglas on his veto of H.441

June 1, 2009 -- “It is with great disappointment that I return H. 441 to the Legislature without my signature. I had hoped that our budget differences could be resolved and compromise reached without the need for a veto vote. Unfortunately, an agreement could not be achieved. These are unprecedented economic times and Vermonters need their elected officials to work together to get our state through this recession. I pledge to continue to work with legislators of all parties regardless of the outcome of tomorrow’s special session.”

Governor Jim Douglas today issued the following veto message on H.441, An Act Making Appropriations for the Support of Government:    » read more »

Jun 01, 2009 -- Good evening, citizens and taxpayers.

As you know, the legislature didn't pass a budget before they adjourned a month ago. That's OK, because the one they were working on assumed over a billion dollars of revenue we clearly will never have. So it would have spent way beyond our current means, wiped out our state savings account, and forced a big tax increase. I'd have had to veto it, and we'd be right where we are today.

To their credit, the legislative leadership quickly came up with a good plan for starting fresh, this time with a more believable estimate of how much money we really will have to work with.    » read more »