NWAOnline’s Legislative Coverage

I don’t know when our legislative website is going dark, but it will happen. It’s Monday and I’m glad to be back home. So I figured I’d better post some last words.

This session is important for three things. First, the “one-time money” taboo was broken. Reserves that had piled up were used to balance the budget in a recession. This is a good thing.

Second, there were major shift in both what your state government spends and in how it collects taxes. I admit nobody in my household smokes or dips, so I’m not felling the pain here. However the $70 million or so increase in the tobacco tax is far offset and then some by the increase in state health spending. The new trauma center system alone is $30 million, an estimate I consider conservative. Combine that with a $30 cut to general revenues from the grocery tax cut and the $10 million cut to sales taxes on manufacturer’s utilities. It’s almost a wash revenue-wise.

Therefore, the greatly increased health program the Legislature passed is actually a major swift in budget priorities — for the better.

Add to that that the tobacco tax is a dying tax. We can see that already, with revenues coming in at far less than expected. The tobacco tax has a built-in sunset. Tax growth for future years — at least to some extent — will go to offset the dropping of the tobacco tax.

Then there was the third thing: The state’s new lottery. Granted, all the Legislature did was implement a constitutional amendment approved by the voters. By all accounts, though, they appear to have done it well.