Surprise!
Greg Pollowitz
NRO's Media Blog
NY Times headline:
"States Finding Fiscal Surprise: A Cash Surplus"
An excerpt:
<<< State lawmakers across the country, their coffers unexpectedly full of cash, have been handing out tax cuts, spending money on fixing roads, schools and public buildings, and socking something away for less fruitful years.
Budget surpluses have largely stemmed from higher than expected tax collections — corporate tax revenues alone were 11 percent higher than budget estimates — and booming local economies. There has also been some relief in Medicaid spending, which fell from an 11 percent annual growth rate to something closer to 7 percent in the past few years. >>>
Of course, missing from the article is anything releated to Bush, tax cuts, etc. But, not looking to miss an opportunity to stick some editorial comment into an article on state budgets, there's this conclusion to the article:
<<< In Oregon, where Democrats gained control of all of state government for the first time in 16 years, lawmakers passed legislation recognizing domestic partnerships, told insurance companies they had to pay for female as well as male contraception and are in the middle of passing bills restricting predatory lending.
“It has been 16 years since we have had a major say in things,” Mr. Kelley said, “so we have had some things pile up.”
In Colorado, where Democrats gained control of both chambers and the governor’s office for the first time in 45 years, bills were passed to prohibit workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, ban abstinence-only education and allow gay couples to adopt each other’s children.
In Iowa, where Democrats controlled the governor’s office and both houses for the first time in 42 years, the state’s civil rights laws were extended to gays.
In Wyoming, at least one law was passed that cost no money, and required no partisanship. Pascopyrum smithii, or western wheatgrass, has now become the state’s official grass. >>>
No mention of Republican fiscal policies in these states, but don't forget: Republicans are bigots!
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