Well, this is probably not major news for most of you since Rhode Island is one of 43 states running pretty big deficits for the current fiscal year as a result of the tough economy. In Rhode Island, we are running about a million dollars over budget each day. As with the other states, we cannot carry a deficit over so it is time to try to see what can be scaled back because our governor doesn't believe in raising taxes for the rich. Instead, we will just take away all the services for the poor.

Every year, the governor has an unofficial State of the State speech. This year, with the budget issues, he decided to ask the local affiliates for the networks to carry his speech in order to make a direct plea to the public because he doesn't think the General Assembly (our legislature) will filter his budget readjustment proposal fairly, particularly when there are only 7 fellow republicans to support him between both houses.

In all honesty, I have never liked our current governor. We are diametrically opposed to him on just about every issue possible. He is also not particularly loved by the population in our state, either. So, I am not really sure how much of his proposal will actually make it through the legislative process.

Here are some of his proposals:
*He wants to cut 6% of state aid to the cities in towns. This is after saying that RI is 7th in the nation for local property taxes, which will have to be raised to try and make up for the cuts.
*He is giving permission for the local school districts to bypass minimum requirements such as the need for bus monitors (this would mean Ray would be fired, and they have no benefits and no opportunity to collect unemployment), professional school librarians, class size and other things
*He has proposed a merger of purchasing of health insurance for a single contract for all state and municipal employees (I actually think this is a good idea) as well as contracts for school busing and lunches for the whole state
*He is also proposing cuts for state funding for the school districts themselves, which should really help our teach contract talks because that will mean even less available funds to play with than expected!
*On a bright note, there were no cuts proposed for state funding for the public libraries, which is a relief!
*He is targeting cuts to those already receiving state/municipal pensions

So, as you can guess, things are not going well, and I am thinking they are not going to get better. His speech last night through chum and blood into the water, and everyone is already screaming in a frenzy.