Another bare-bones budget for fiscal year 2010-11, which will begin Oct. 1, has been all but set by the Legislature's Joint Finance Appropriations Committee.
On Friday, JFAC, the committee largely responsible for the state's budget and determining how tax dollars are spent, went along with a $2.29 billion fiscal 2010-11 budget figure recommended by the Legislature's Economic Outlook Committee in January. That number is $59 million less than the budget recommended by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter at the beginning of the year.
For the current fiscal year, JFAC approved a reduced budget of $2.28 billion, down from the original $2.5 billion.
The 2010-11 budget still has to be approved by the House and Senate, but both traditionally vote in line with JFAC.
While JFAC's 16 Republican members supported the lower figures, the four Democratic members were in opposition, looking for higher revenue figures.
One of those Democrats, Ketchum's Wendy Jaquet, representing District 25, repeatedly argued for higher figures in the run-up to the committee's decision.
"This has been a tough week," Jaquet wrote in a legislative update Sunday. "[Budget committee Democrats] thought that going a little higher than the legislative Economic Outlook Committee and designing a contingency plan would be a more positive move for the state. We lost."
Jaquet said she expects that the budget could lead to cuts ranging from 7 to 10 percent in the Department of Education. However, she said she hopes kindergarten through 12th-grade education would be spared cuts in the current year by using reserves.
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In January, Jaquet said even Otter's recommendation was too low, given that it was about $83 million less than the forecast of his staff economist.
"There are people legitimately worried about the economy, but I think there are some who see this as a way to shrink government," Jaquet said in an interview last month.
In her report, Jaquet said the reduced budget could make it hard for some agencies, such as the Department of Corrections and the Department of Finance, to carry out their responsibilities.
"I believe these budgets should be reviewed for efficiencies, but I fear for their ability to do their jobs if reduced too far," Jaquet wrote.
As the party-line vote shows, committee Republicans didn't agree with Jaquet's logic.
"We're not out of this mess by a long shot," Sen. Jeff Siddoway, R-Terreton, said during the JFAC hearing Friday, according to The Associated Press. "We've got to deal with what we've got."
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
