When I blogged about Gov. Jay Nixon's nearly half-a-billion dollars in budget cuts back in June, I wrote that
[a]lthough deeper cuts in government waste are always preferred, the Governor's reasonably modest cut backs are more than welcome.
Almost half a year on, it looks like those cuts are getting a bit less modest.
Gov. Jay Nixon cut an additional $204 million from Missouri's budget Wednesday and eliminated nearly 700 jobs in attempt to offset a continued decline in state tax revenues….
"These restrictions have become necessary due to declining state revenues caused by the ongoing national economic downturn," Nixon said at a Capitol news conference.
The latest round of cutbacks raises the total eliminated by Nixon to $634 million out of $23.7 billion approved by lawmakers for state operations and capital improvements during the current fiscal year. About 2,300 full- and part-time state employee positions now have been eliminated, either by the Nixon or legislators.
The full list of cuts is here.
Every cut to a budget has a consequence, both on state employees whose hours are curtailed or eliminated and on Missourians who may have come to expect or depend on a state-provided service. The newest round of cuts will hit many departments, meaning that like the first round of budget cuts, the second round is designed to spread the cost-savings across the budget so as not to completely decimate any single state service. While most services will continue, many state agencies will have do with fewer resources and, consequently, narrow their scope.
It’s a difficult and painful process, particularly in the midst of a severe recession. Yet there is little doubt that it is a necessary one. The governor made the right decision to continue making cuts, and he has indicated more cuts may be on the way in the coming months. In these leaner times, it makes sense that Missouri should have a leaner government. Let’s hope, though, that a lean, limited, and efficient government is the end objective of our political class whatever the economic environment, and not just an objective when the money runs out.