Holding Back the Budget Busters
by: Rep. Dan Villa
The “New Deal” was President Roosevelt’s way of kick starting the US economy in the depths of the Great Depression. By investing in Montana communities, Montana Democrats will continue our current economic successes.
We will not, however, bust the budget to make these much needed investments. That’s why House Bill 11 (the Treasure State Endowment Program) was killed on the floor this week.
Democrats proposed an amendment which would actually save the State money and facilitate the needed projects. Unfortunately, it was killed on a partisan vote. With the sort of fiscal irresponsibility in the unamended bill, we had no choice but to say “thanks, but no thanks” to a bill which broke not only the intention of a citizen passed initiative but also the entire budget process.
Water projects in rural Montana is important and we will fund them. We will do so with smart budgeting, not by breaking the rules. When you break the rules, you break the budget. Democrats have no interest in propogating bad tax policy and even worse happenstance spending practices which only force legislators to come back in 2009 in order to cut funding for cops and clerks, pupils and patients because we were unwilling to think, and act, outside the box.
More posts by DanVilla