Gov. Bev Perdue took three positive steps on the budget yesterday (searchable database of grants and contracts, improved monitoring of state agencies, and the Budget Reform and Accountability Committee). She still faces a revenue shortfall through June, however, that could exceed reductions in spending by as much as $600 million. Making up that difference through the Savings Reserve Account, the state’s rainy day fund, would drain three-fourths of the meager $800 million set aside in the past five years.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is setting the bar higher. He has no plans to touch that state’s $1.4 billion rainy day fund. “The governor’s philosophy is yes, it’s raining now, but we don’t know how much harder it might be raining in the next couple years,” his press secretary told USA Today.
