Lt. Gov. discusses looming budget cuts

Lt. Gov Mike Cooney said Wednesday that Montanans need to reach out to their state lawmakers to let them know the severity of looming budget cuts, and said cuts would be serious and painful, unless Republican lawmakers join with Gov. Steve Bullock to look at alternatives.

Cooney made the comments Wednesday at a listening session with community hosted by Bear Paw Development Corp. in the Ryan Building in Havre.

"We are having conversations all over to try to get people to understand, to understand about the severity of these cuts and what it's going to mean," Cooney said.

He said Gov. Steve Bullock is willing to look at all suggestions for a deal that would include revenue and spending cuts.

Reductions in oil and gas revenues to the state, low prices on agriculture products and unusually active fire season have led to a $227 million state budget deficit, he said.

Because Montana law prohibits the state from spending more money than it takes, all state agencies will be required to submit plans to the governor to cut their budgets by 10 percent, Cooney said.

"It is not what the governor wants to see happen," Cooney said.

The cuts, he said, will fall heavily on education, the Department of Public Health and Human Services and the Montana Department of Corrections. Cooney said together, those areas take up 85 percent of the state general fund.

Other state agencies, such as the Montana Department of Transportation, barely get any money from the general fund he said, but they, too, have to submit a plans to cut 10 percent of their budget.

"That is not what the governor wants to do, but it is what he has to do if nothing changes," Cooney said.

The cuts would be on top of others that were in the state budget that was passed by the Legislature and signed by Bullock, and cuts from Senate Bill 261, a bill that mandated that four tiers of cuts happen to balance the state budget if certain revenue targets were not met. A handout provided by the governor's office says SB 261 cut spending by $37 million including a 1 percent cut to Medicaid provider rates. The Legislature also balanced the budget by transferring $30 million from the state's Fire Fund, the handout says.

The same agencies that were most hit under SB 261 will also have to make more cuts, Cooney said.

Mayor Tim Solomon asked Cooney if there would be a special legislative session to resolve the budget issue.

Cooney said he did not know.

A special session, Cooney said, is something that usually happens when the governor and Legislature have already reached an agreement and just need to pass it.

Though Cooney did not rule out a special session, he said If Republicans are not willing to work out a deal, special session would cost the state more money.

Cooney said Republicans right now are content with letting the cuts happen.

"Right now, what we are hearing is 'make the cuts, make the cuts'," Cooney said. "'We are not feeling the pain. My people are not feeling the pain'."

Former state Sen. Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, said he appreciates the governor's reluctance to call a special session, however a special session might force the Legislature to "put its fingerprints on the cuts."

He said right now many lawmakers are passing the blame on the governor for the cuts.

"That is what is going on now, somebody's favorite program that somebody cares about (like) mental health will talk to their legislator who will say 'I didn't cut it the governor did, I cut something else,'" Jergeson said.

Cooney said that he knows the governor well, and the governor's inclination is to work with lawmakers. He said Bullock wants Republicans to "meet him halfway."

Kyndra Hall, chief financial officer at Bullhook Community Health Center, said the reductions will hit her health center hard, which many people with mental health issues depend on Bullhook for services.

Cooney said DPHHS funding, which includes mental health services, hospice care and children's services, would be hit hard by the cuts.

Jim Bennett, executive director of the Montana åState University-Northern Alumni Foundation, said, given falling revenue in agriculture and the extraction industries, cuts to health and education would make things harder.

"If we experience these cuts in healthcare and education, I mean the biggest employers in our community will be feeling the brunt of this," Bennett said.

Cooney said much of the K-12 education budget can not be cut under Montana law, which means much of the education cuts will be in higher education.

He said it is scary, particularly for Northern, because they won't get funding unless they get students and they won't be able to attract students without funding.

Blaine County Commissioner Dolores Plumage said she thinks the state legislature has been thinking too much about politics. This spring, she and many commissioners in other countries pushed for a bill that would allow counties to make the special congressional election an all mail ballot election, she said.

The bill passed the senate but died in the House. When the governor issued an amendatory veto of another bill related to voting issues, it was not brought up.

She said conducting the election by all-mail ballot could have saved her counties and others money.

Cooney said lawmakers and the public will have the chance to weigh in. The Legislative Interim Finance Committee is scheduled to meet next month, when they will look at agency proposals and make their own recommendations.

Recommendations will then go to the governor and he will decide what cuts need to be made.

People can research the impact of the cuts and weigh in at http://balancedbudget.mt.gov/.