Final Budget Statement by Senator Lisa Baker

"The impacts of the state budget impasse have been severe.  Service providers, local governments, schools, students, and families should not have had to suffer the uncertainty, the disruptions, and the costs inflicted because of the prolonged dispute.  Our process is clearly flawed, and I am working to determine how we can change things so we do not suffer a repetition of this budget ordeal that has been so frustrating for taxpayers and so disruptive to state-funded services.

This budget does not reflect the principles I laid out at the beginning of this process, or the priorities many people in my district told me were most important, so I could not vote to support it.

While we were successful in preventing increases in the state personal income tax and the sales tax, other tax increases approved despite my opposition will adversely impact small businesses, which only delays the economic recovery our state desperately needs to take place.

The expansion of gambling is not a responsible solution to our problems.  Because people have such strong opinions about gambling and gambling expansion, table games should be openly debated.  It is not the sort of thing that should be just waved through because the state is desperate for dollars.

There are also substantial inequities in funding for important programs, services and institutions that matter to our communities."

Attachment:

General Fund State Appropriations 2009/10 Budget