Tag: Budget

Commentary: Despite ‘Strong’ Rhetoric, Biden Administration Signals Gloomy Economic Outlook

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The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the now-released President’s Budget is projecting just 0.6 percent in inflation-adjusted real growth of the U.S. economy in 2023 as the unemployment rate is expected to rise to 4.3 percent in 2023 and peak at 4.6 percent in 2024 after the economy is finished overheating from the continued, elevated inflation, consumers max out on credit and spending falls off a cliff.

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Virginia General Assembly Adjourns after Passing ‘Stopgap’ Budget, No Final Deal

The Center Square

The politically-divided Virginia General Assembly agreed on a “stopgap” budget bill before lawmakers adjourned the legislative session Saturday, with lawmakers indicating work remains to reach a final deal on amendments to the state’s two-year state spending plan. 

Without an agreement reached on key aspects of proposed amendments to the state’s budget – including $1 billion in tax cuts proposed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin – the legislature agreed to pass what House Appropriations Committee Chair Del. Barry Knight described as a “stopgap” budget with just a few items. 

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Tennessee Titans Stadium Proposal Submitted to Metro Council for Approval

Kaitlin Housler

A final budget proposal for how the new Tennessee Titans football stadium will be funded has been submitted to the Nashville Metro Council by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and the football team.

The legislation will be subject to three readings, beginning at the council’s next meeting on March 7th. April 4th is the earliest possible date for the agreement to be finalized.

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Tennessee Commission Reports at Least $62.9 Billion of Public Infrastructure Improvement Needs

Laura Baigert

The Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) announced last week the release of its 21st annual report on the public infrastructure needs across the state during the five-year period of July 2021 to June 2026.

The latest report, “Building Tennessee’s Tomorrow: Anticipating the State’s Infrastructure Needs,” indicates there is $1.2 billion or 2 percent increase over the year before. And while the costs have increased for the seven straight reporting period, they decreased when adjusted for inflation and population.

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Sumner County Elections Hires Attorney Whose Lobbying Firm Represents MicroVote Election Equipment Used in Sumner County

Laura Baigert

GALLATIN, Tennessee – The Sumner County Election Commission (SCEC), on a 3 to 2 voice vote, decided in its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday to engage the services of legal counsel to represent them against the County Commission. The attorney specifically named in the motion is a principal with the law firm’s lobbying affiliate that represents MicroVote General Corporation, makers of the voting machines used in Sumner County elections.

In his motion, Republican-appointed SCEC member Mike Fussell made the unusual move of specifically naming attorney Tom Lee to provide the legal services as one “who is very familiar with the workings of Sumner County government.”

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Evers Unveils Record $104 Billion Budget Plan, Republicans Get Ready to Rewrite

M.D. Kittle

Billing it a “breakthrough budget,” Governor Tony Evers rolled out a massive two-year spending plan on Wednesday that would dump billions more taxpayer dollars into a host of new programs, raise taxes by $1 billion-plus on businesses, deliver a sweetheart deal to the Milwaukee Brewers, and gobble up much of the state’s historic $7.1 billion surplus. 

At approximately $104 billion, Evers’ budget proposal is the first to break the $100 billion mark and comes in at about $13 billion more than his 2021-23 plan and more than $16 billion higher than the current budget he signed into law in June 2021. 

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Florida’s DeSantis Seeks Tax Relief in Proposed $114 Billion Budget

The Center Square

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Tallahassee Wednesday to discuss his “Framework for Freedom” budget.

DeSantis’ proposed $114.8 billion budget contains some tax relief measures as the economy in the Sunshine State has performed far better than other states. Last year the state surplus was over $20 billion, and DeSantis stated that this money needs to go back to the people.

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Bill to Cut Nashville City Center Funding Calls into Question Tax Plan for New $2.2B Titans Stadium

The Center Square

A new proposed bill in the Tennessee not only proposes cutting some of the state tax funding to pay debt on the Music City Center, but it also calls into question plans to build a new $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium.

Senate Bill 648, filed Thursday by Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, on behalf of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, would change the way taxes flow to Metro Nashville to pay debt from the Music City Center, which opened in 2013. The bill does not yet have a House sponsor.

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Study: Students in Wisconsin Choice Schools Outperforming Public School Peers

M.D. Kittle

On this National School Choice Week, a new study by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty shows parental choice programs continuing to outperform public schools, particularly in the state’s largest city. 

“Apples to Apples: Accessing Wisconsin State of Education”, accesses Badger State educational performance across public, charter, and private voucher schools.

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Gov. Tony Evers Signals Big Spending Plans for Wisconsin in State of the State Address

M.D. Kittle

In his fifth State of the State address Tuesday evening, Gov. Tony Evers began laying out how he plans to use Wisconsin’s $6.6 billion surplus, pitching a spending bender of big government initiatives already with a price tag to date of around $1.3 billion. But there’s more to come. Evers is still constructing his biennial budget plan, set for release in a few weeks. 

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State Senate Majority Leader Pitches Flat Tax for Wisconsin

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by Benjamin Yount   Wisconsin’s Senate majority leader says there is plenty of money available to reconfigure the state’s personal income tax rates. State Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, on Friday said Wisconsin’s record $6.6 billion surplus will help get the state over the hump. “So, for sure in the first two years of the budget we’ll have plenty of revenue,” LeMahieu said. His proposal would move Wisconsin from a top personal income tax rate of 7.65% to a flat rate of 3.25% for everyone by 2026. LeMahieu estimates that his plan will save taxpayers $5 billion. “It maybe looks a little daunting in years three and four,” Lemahieu said of the impact on state coffers. “When other states have done this, sales tax revenue goes up, and other revenue goes up because there’s more money in the system. It changes people’s spending habits.” LeMahieu said Wisconsin’s economy has grown over the past several years, and he expects that to continue. He also said lowering the tax rate to 3.25% would make Wisconsin the lowest among its neighbors. Minnesota’s income tax rates start at 5.35%, while Illinois, Iowa and Michigan all have flat taxes that are or would be higher than…

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Tennessee’s December Revenues $217 Million More than Budgeted

Laura Baigert

Tennessee revenues for December were $217.2 million more than budgeted and represented growth of nearly five percent over December 2021, according to Friday’s announcement by the state’s Commissioner of Finance and Administration Jim Bryson.

December is the fifth month, on an accrual basis, of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and the year-to-date revenues are $959.9 billion in excess of what was budgeted and $655 million over the same time last fiscal year.

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House Speaker Fight Foreshadows Larger Debt Ceiling Battle on the Horizon for Republicans

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The gridlock that paralyzed House Republicans over the past week in their quest to elect a new Speaker could be a foretaste of more to come, with party moderates and conservatives set to tangle in the months to come over raising the debt ceiling and reining in reckless government spending.

Although newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy ultimately prevailed in his bid for the office over a small but determined band of House Freedom Caucus members, his slim GOP majority in the House will be vulnerable if and when conservatives rebel again down the road, as some are predicting, in an effort to reassert debt reduction as a top priority for the party.

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Tucson Ban on Landlords Considering Income Could Hobble Its City Budget

The Center Square

An Arizona lawmaker wants the state Attorney General’s office to investigate an action taken by the City of Tucson.

Arizona House Speaker-elect Ben Toma, R-Peoria, filed an SB 1487 complaint with the Arizona Attorney General on Wednesday, asking the office to investigate Tucson’s policy forbidding landlords from considering people’s sources of income on rental housing applications. Toma wants the Attorney General’s office to investigate whether this violates state law.

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Commissioner Schwinn Presents Department of Education Budget for Coming Year, Promising More of the Same

TC Weber

An optimistic Penny Schwinn, Tennessee’s Commissioner of Education, presented the department’s2023/2024 proposed budget to Governor Lee and his advisors. For his part, the Governor was cordial, congratulatory, and to the point – often raising questions during the 30-minute presentation.

With confidence in his re-election bid running high, Governor Lee scheduled state departmental budget hearings for November 9th. A day after Tuesday’s statewide election that awarded him four more years as Governor. In the wake of securing his job for another term, Governor Lee indicated that education would remain a top priority going forth.

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Cato Institute Gives Governor Bill Lee ‘D’ Grade on State Fiscal Policy Report Card

Kaitlin Housler

The Cato Institute released its 2022 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors on Wednesday, which grades the governors of all 50 U.S. states on their fiscal policies from a limited-government perspective.

According to its website, the Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank that “promotes an American public policy based on individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peaceful international relations.”

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Republican Leadership Pledges to ‘Repeal’ IRS Auditor Expansion if GOP Wins Majority

The Center Square

President Joe Biden sparked controversy for pushing through Congress increased federal funding for 87,000 new IRS employees to audit Americans, but Republican leadership has pledged to overturn that expansion if they win the majority.

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., pledged at a Pennsylvania event to “repeal” the IRS expansion.

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Commentary: The Fed’s Interest Rate Hikes Have only Destroyed $398 Billion of the $6 Trillion It Printed

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“Our expectation has been we would begin to see inflation come down, largely because of supply side healing.  We haven’t. We have seen some supply side healing but inflation has not really come down.”

That was Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Sept. 21, speaking to reporters following the central bank’s meeting where the Federal Funds Rate was once again increased 0.75 percent to its current range of 3 percent to 3.25 percent in a bid to combat sticky 8.3 percent consumer inflation the past year.

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer Touts $77 Billion 2023 Budget, Despite No Tax Relief

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is touting the $77 billion 2023 fiscal year budget that she says will improve Michigan’s economy and workforce.

Whitmer bragged that the budget negotiated with Republicans doesn’t raise taxes. However, it also keeps $7 billion of taxpayer money locked in state coffers while spending another $7 billion more than the prior budget.

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Yellen to Testify on Biden Budget After Admitting She Was Wrong on Inflation

The Center Square

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will testify before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, just days after she admitted she was wrong about inflation earlier in President Joe Biden’s term.

The hearing, which is on “the president’s fiscal year 2023 budget” will only feature testimony from Yellen, according to the committee’s website.

Biden’s budget likely will be under extra scrutiny as gas prices continue to hit record highs and inflation rises at the fastest level in decades.

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Virginia Budget Deal Includes Middle-Class Tax Cuts, Grocery Tax Cut

The Center Square

After months of debate about Virginia’s biennium budget, lawmakers reached a deal to provide an income tax cut for the middle class, a reduction in the grocery tax and a pay raise for teachers.

The deal earned approval from Republicans and Democrats in a joint conference committee, but still needs to pass the House of Delegates and the Senate and be signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Republicans narrowly control the House and Democrats narrowly control the Senate.

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Nashville Metro Council Considers First Reading of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Grant Acceptances at Latest Meeting

Aaron Gulbransen

Nashville Metro Council considered the first reading of the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and issues like grant acceptances at its latest meeting.

BL2022-1248, a bill on first reading, was the ordinance setting the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and is on the agenda. The full proposal can be viewed on the Metro Council website. It was referred to the Budget and Finance Committee.

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First Reading of Fiscal Year 2023 Budget and Grant Acceptances Highlight Metro Council Meeting Agenda

Aaron Gulbransen

The Metro Nashville Council agenda for the May 17 meeting is highlighted by the first reading of the budget as well as resolutions accepting grants from various agencies to address mental health, drug overdose, and tobacco issues.

The Tennessee Star previously reported that BL2022-1248, a bill on first reading, is the ordinance setting the Fiscal Year 2023 budget and is on the agenda.

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Governor Lee Announces Passage of His Full Agenda and $52.8 Billion Budget

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee marked the close of the 2022 legislative session Friday, which included the passage of his $52.8 billion budget and full agenda as outlined during his State of the State address in February.

“Tennessee is America at Its Best, and we’ve made strategic investments to cut taxes, strengthen infrastructure and invest in education at every level to prepare our state for future growth,” Governor Lee said in a statement. “I thank Leader Johnson and Leader Lamberth for carrying key legislation, and commend the General Assembly for passing measures that will benefit Tennesseans and continue our state’s reputation for conservative fiscal management.”

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Tennessee Revenues for March $348.8 Million More than Budgeted, Annual Surplus Hits $2.5 Billion

Laura Baigert

Tennessee tax revenues for the month of March exceeded budgeted estimates by $348.8 million, putting the fiscal year surplus at $2.5 billion, reported Department of Finance and Administration Commissioner Butch Eley in a statement Thursday.

March tax revenues totaling $1.6 billion were $286.8 million or 22.78 percent higher than the state received in March 2021.

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Georgia Lawmakers Approve $30.2 Billion Budget as 2022 Session Draws to a Close

The Center Square
Georgia State Capitol

Georgia lawmakers capped off the 2022 legislative session by approving the state’s fiscal 2023 budget.

The state Senate voted 53-0 in favor of House Bill 911, while the state House voted 160-5.

The $30.2 billion budget, which starts July 1, represents a 10.8 percent increase over last year’s budget and includes a $5,000 pay increase for state employees. Coupled with more than $17.6 billion in federal money, the state’s budget exceeds $57.9 billion.

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Commentary: Biden’s Budget of Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes

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Inflation is running rampant, federal spending is out of control, gas prices are at an all-time high and Americans are pessimistic on the future outlook of the economy. So what is President Joe Biden’s solution?

He has released a budget proposal that includes 36 tax increases on families and businesses totaling $2.5 trillion over the next decade. Alarmingly, this includes 11 tax increases on the oil and gas industry, taxes that will put a burden on households.

The budget doesn’t even include all the tax increases being pushed by Democrats because the budget omits the cost of tax increases within their stalled multi-trillion dollar Build Back Better Act. Instead of detailing these tax increases, the Biden budget includes a placeholder asserting that any new spending will be fully offset.

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Democratic Virginia State Sen. Joe Morrissey Says He’ll Vote for Gov. Youngkin Massive Tax Cut

Julie Carr

Live from Virginia Wednesday morning on The John Fredericks Show – weekdays on WNTW AM 820 / FM 92.7 – Richmond; WJFN FM 100.5 – Central Virginia; WMPH AM 1010 / FM 100.1 / FM 96.9 (7-9 p.m.) Hampton Roads; WBRG AM 1050 / FM 105.1 – Lynchburg/Roanoke; and weekdays 6-10 a.m. and 24/7 stream –  host Fredericks welcomed State Senator of Petersburg, (D) Joe Morrissey to discuss Governor Glenn Youngkin’s pressure on Virginia House and Senate members to pass a budget.

Fredericks: Joining us now is State Senator, Petersburg Democrat Joe Morrissey. Joe, great to have you with us.

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Gov. Whitmer Vetoes $2.5 Billion in Tax Relief

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed a GOP bill that aimed to provide $2.5 billion in tax breaks by dropping the personal income tax rate from 4.25% to 3.9%, saying it would blow a “hole” in her $74 billion budget.

“It would force tax hikes on families or deep and painful cuts to services, hurt our children’s ability to catch up in school, force layoffs of cops and firefighters, and kneecap our ability to keep fixing crumbling roads,” Whitmer wrote in her veto letter.

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Analysis Details $8.9 Billion Spending Increase in Lee’s Budget Proposal

The Center Square
Bill Lee speaking

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s $52.6 billion budget proposal uses $8.9 billion more in general fund dollars than the state’s current budget, according to an analysis from The Sycamore Institute.

The additional spending comes from multiple sources. A large portion is from excess taxes and fees collected over the past three years and an influx of federal funds.

The Sycamore Institute pointed to $5.2 million more in funds available this fiscal year than what was budgeted in July, including a $2.3 billion surplus from fiscal year 2021 and $2.3 billion more in surplus from fiscal 2022.

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St. Paul Police Chief Sends Mayor a Dire Warning About Understaffed Department

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Todd Axtell

St. Paul’s chief of police is pleading with city leaders for help once again.

Last Friday Chief Todd Axtell wrote a letter to Mayor Melvin Carter with a dire warning about the understaffed and overworked St. Paul Police Department.

Evidently not much has changed after a contentious Sept. 2021 meeting with the St. Paul City Council, in which Axtell sought a $3.1 million increase over what Mayor Carter initially proposed for the 2022 police budget.

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Governor Lee Proposes $626 Million in Transportation Spending in Tennessee Budget

The Center Square
construction worker holding a stop sign

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s proposed fiscal year 2023 budget includes $626.5 million in road projects for the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The proposal includes 22 new projects that are categorized under the State Highway Partnership Program ($226 million), Rural Interchange Improvement Program ($176 million), IMPROVE Act Acceleration ($100 million) and economic development projects ($77 million).

The economic development projects, in what are characterized as some of the state’s fastest-growing counties, include a Cleveland Street extension and Interstate-24 underpass in Davidson County ($40 million), a Sullivan County alignment project ($22 million) and widening State Road 334 in Blount County ($15 million).

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