Proviso 90.15 "The intent of the General Assembly…"

90.15 (SR: State Budget Stabilization Fund) It is the intent of the General Assembly to accept all available funds from the State Budget Stabilization Fund contained within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and to authorize expenditure of such funds as delineated in this act.

There it is. One of hundreds of items we’ll debate this week in the House.

Do we in the General Assembly take the $350 million this year (and next year) to plug holes in our budget or do we say “no thanks”? Remember, our state still has access to over $7 BILLION in funds whether we accept these for our budget or not.

Discuss…

UPDATE: By a vote of 108-8 the House voted to take the stimulus money. During the day there have been a few amendments to help protect the taxpayers and prepare our state for when this money is no longer handed to us (stops in two years). If/when the state economy can’t support these spending levels that are propped up by the stabilization fund, we will face even more severe cuts or decisions to make than we were looking at this year.