I pause for a moment to reflect on how surprising that headline would have been as recently as 2009.
But the new administration of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has changed the Garden State?s political landscape drastically. Among the most positive changes is a concentrated focus on putting the state government?s fiscal house in order.
The cover story in the latest dead-tree edition of National Review focuses on Christie?s early budget success. Of particular interest to North Carolina ? where we have a structural deficit of roughly $3 billion for the 2011-12 state budget ? is the following passage:
Christie insiders are convinced the bar has been reset, and that they can fight next year?s budget wars on their terms.
?They say there is another $10 billion gap for next year,? says one top Christie insider of the 2012 budget.
?That?s based on the assumption that you take your hands off the wheel, and you go back. You don?t do any reforms, and you therefore put back all of the money that was pulled this year.
No.
The whole point of resetting the base is that as the economy starts to recover and we start to see some growth, then there is not an automatic conclusion that this program that was cut becomes restored. Then it becomes a serious discussion about what priorities of the state, what taxes should be cut.?
As in the case of New Jersey, North Carolina should treat its latest budget woes as a good excuse to ?reset the base? of state government spending. To put it another way, the budget crisis is an opportunity for real reform.
