Fiscal Responsibility Rediscovered

After going on a spending spree when there was a surplus, Governor Butch Otter (R-ID) is scaling back in a downturn. Idaho Business News reports:

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter ordered state agencies Dec. 1 to cut another 3 percent from their budgets this year on top of the 1 percent spending reduction he ordered in September in response to an increasingly gloomy economic outlook.

The governor also directed agency heads to hold an additional 2 percent of their general fund budgets in reserve in case state revenues continue to fall short of projections.

“These are difficult decisions made in consultation with legislative leaders based on the best economic information available at this point in time,” Otter said in a news release. “None of us know with certainty where the bottom of this downturn will be. But we have a responsibility to act prudently with taxpayers’ dollars, and a constitutional requirement to balance the state budget. This is a necessary step.”

I’ve been somewhat of a critic of the Governor’s spending policies as well as his push for massive fee increase to cover transportation, but I think what he’s doing now shows appropriate fiscal restraint.

Yet, I’m left with a question. If improving Idaho roads is a priority, why didn’t we see a similar measure in the past couple of years? It seems to me, the Governor has enacted two tough cuts in State Government. They’ll be difficult, they’ll be painful, but we’ll manage. He could have done the same thing in 2007 to help fund transportation needs.

Even if all the money didn’t come from spending cuts, I think folks would be far more likely to go along if they didn’t think they were the only ones being asked to tighten their belts. Idahoans really can’t afford much more, particularly in an economic downturn.