BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — College students clash with administrators over steeply rising tuition. Public employees shut down statehouses amid cuts to pay and retirement benefits. Teachers and social welfare advocates protest budget cuts. Lawmakers struggle to cope with sharp declines in tax revenue.
If government budgets were once an eye-glazing topic, they moved to the top of the public agenda in 2011 as state and local governments faced some of their most difficult decisions since the national recession began in late 2007.
A fourth year of declining tax revenue meant deep spending cuts and, in many states, a rethinking of the role of government and the scope of the services it should provide.
Budget experts expect last year’s tumult to give way to somewhat steadier times in 2012, as tax revenue continues a slow rebound. But few budget planners are celebrating, as cautious optimism about an uneven economic recovery is leading to subdued expectations.
“There will be no restorations,” said Eileen Klein, chief of staff for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. “I hope we can eliminate that word from the budget vernacular.”
The end of a three-year state sales tax increase in 2013 and concerns about Medicaid expansion in 2014 driven by the federal health care overhaul has led the state’s Republican governor and GOP lawmakers, who have a majority in the Legislature, to say they must hold the line against new spending.
The cautiousness in Arizona is an illustration of the continued budget turmoil expected in 2012 throughout much of the nation, even after four years of deep spending cuts.
States have closed budget gaps totaling more than $500 billion since late 2007, with 48 states cutting programs and services. Louisiana, for example, recently trimmed subsidies that are provided to grandparents and other relatives taking care of children who are not their own, ended a program in 10 local jurisdictions to help people find jobs and sliced money for counseling services for at-risk children.
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal cut public college funding another $50 million this month to help close the latest budget shortfall. Rising tuition has led to rallies on campuses across the country, including some protests that turned violent in California.
Adam Thongsavat, 22, expects the year ahead to be even more active on campuses. The student body president at the University of California, Davis, where campus police pepper-sprayed peaceful demonstrators last fall, said students are angry over rising tuition and a lack of job prospects once they graduate.
In his time as a student, he saw tuition and campus fees at the public university rise by nearly 68 percent, from about $8,000 in 2007 to $13,400 this year.
“I think 2012 will make even optimists pessimistic,” said Thongsavat, who recently graduated with a double major in history and political science. “I think what you’re going to see is a lot more unrest unless leaders in Sacramento, our regents and community leaders take active stances on improving student lives. We’re going to see a lot more of the same, and it’s going to get a lot worse.”
Federal stimulus money approved by Congress when the Democrats were in control helped during the heart of the recession, delaying layoffs of teachers and police officers while moderating cuts to Medicaid and other public health programs. Some states raised taxes and fees and tapped their rainy-day funds.
But even with a trickle of good economic news recently, state officials say no one should expect robust government spending anytime soon. Commitments still exceed incoming tax revenue in many states.
“It’s at a slow pace. But any improvement, no matter how small, is positive news,” said Todd Haggerty, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arkansas is among those states expecting to see a slight bump in tax revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but it will not be enough to significantly restore funding to slashed programs and services. Worries about the strength of the economic recovery linger, making state officials hesitant to spend, said Richard Weiss, head of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
“There are a lot of clouds out there, and there’s a lot of headwind out there that we’re very concerned about,” he said.
Twenty-nine states are spending less from their general funds today than they did before the recession, according to a recent joint survey from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.
More than 30 states have raised taxes since the recession began, but some of those increases were temporary and are expiring soon, as in Arizona. With the economy slowly reviving and unemployment rates dipping, many governors and lawmakers say they don’t want to jeopardize the recovery by raising taxes again.
But tax revenue is not expected to grow enough to make up for the impact of four years of dismal economic times. Rainy-day funds, internal transfers and other one-time sources have largely been tapped, so governors and lawmakers must look for new places to cut spending.
“They’ve done the easy cuts and only a few have budget reserves left,” said Elizabeth McNichol of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “There aren’t really things that are sacrosanct any longer.”
Changes to public employee retirement benefits and sweeping reforms to health care programs such as Medicaid are among the most likely targets.
At least 17 states project budget gaps for the next fiscal year, while a handful need to balance budgets in the remaining six months of the current budget year. The revenue of all 50 states combined remains $21 billion below 2008 levels, according to the National Governors Association-NASBO report.
Budget gaps in states projecting shortfalls in the 2012-13 fiscal year are estimated to total $40 billion. By comparison, California alone closed a deficit of $42 billion in 2009, during the worst of recession.
The nation’s most populous state is again facing budget troubles, but the problem appears more manageable than during the past few years.
Even so, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers have fewer options to close the $13 billion shortfall that is projected over the next 18 months.
In December, Brown ordered $1 billion in midyear spending reductions to public schools, universities and social services because tax revenue did not meet projections. The state has given school districts the option of slicing another seven days from the current school year, now 175 days long. That already is five days shorter than before the recession.
Low-income seniors and the disabled will get less in-home care when the reductions start in January. School advocates warn that an estimated 1 million students will have trouble getting to class with a drop in home-to-school transportation funding.
“The cut to transportation is absolutely devastating,” said Steve Henderson, a lobbyist for the California School Employees Association. “What that means is a lot of low-income and rural kids will not have the ability to get to school.”
Brown has proposed a 2012 ballot initiative to raise $7 billion annually through 2016 by boosting income taxes on individuals making $250,000 or more a year and increasing the state sales tax by a half-cent. He also has submitted a plan to the Legislature to revamp public employee pensions.
Washington state is considering similar cuts to cope with its shortfall, including shortening its school year, eliminating medical programs for 55,000 low-income residents and letting some low- and moderate-risk offenders out of prison early.
Missouri is reducing funding for elementary and secondary education to close a mid-year budget deficit tied to tornado recovery. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, is warning of thousands of teacher layoffs next fall because federal aid to local school districts is running out.
In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper has proposed deep cuts to K-12 funding and higher education, largely because of a spike in Medicaid enrollment.
“This doesn’t make us happy,” said Hickenlooper, a Democrat. “I don’t see a way to get around it.”
___
Associated Press writers Mike Baker in Olympia, Wash., Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., Judy Lin in Sacramento, Calif., Ivan Moreno in Denver and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — College students clash with administrators over steeply rising tuition. Public employees shut down statehouses amid cuts to pay and retirement benefits. Teachers and social welfare advocates protest budget cuts. Lawmakers struggle to cope with sharp declines in tax revenue.
If government budgets were once an eye-glazing topic, they moved to the top of the public agenda in 2011 as state and local governments faced some of their most difficult decisions since the national recession began in late 2007.
A fourth year of declining tax revenue meant deep spending cuts and, in many states, a rethinking of the role of government and the scope of the services it should provide.
Budget experts expect last year’s tumult to give way to somewhat steadier times in 2012, as tax revenue continues a slow rebound. But few budget planners are celebrating, as cautious optimism about an uneven economic recovery is leading to subdued expectations.
“There will be no restorations,” said Eileen Klein, chief of staff for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. “I hope we can eliminate that word from the budget vernacular.”
The end of a three-year state sales tax increase in 2013 and concerns about Medicaid expansion in 2014 driven by the federal health care overhaul has led the state’s Republican governor and GOP lawmakers, who have a majority in the Legislature, to say they must hold the line against new spending.
The cautiousness in Arizona is an illustration of the continued budget turmoil expected in 2012 throughout much of the nation, even after four years of deep spending cuts.
States have closed budget gaps totaling more than $500 billion since late 2007, with 48 states cutting programs and services. Louisiana, for example, recently trimmed subsidies that are provided to grandparents and other relatives taking care of children who are not their own, ended a program in 10 local jurisdictions to help people find jobs and sliced money for counseling services for at-risk children.
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal cut public college funding another $50 million this month to help close the latest budget shortfall. Rising tuition has led to rallies on campuses across the country, including some protests that turned violent in California.
Adam Thongsavat, 22, expects the year ahead to be even more active on campuses. The student body president at the University of California, Davis, where campus police pepper-sprayed peaceful demonstrators last fall, said students are angry over rising tuition and a lack of job prospects once they graduate.
In his time as a student, he saw tuition and campus fees at the public university rise by nearly 68 percent, from about $8,000 in 2007 to $13,400 this year.
“I think 2012 will make even optimists pessimistic,” said Thongsavat, who recently graduated with a double major in history and political science. “I think what you’re going to see is a lot more unrest unless leaders in Sacramento, our regents and community leaders take active stances on improving student lives. We’re going to see a lot more of the same, and it’s going to get a lot worse.”
Federal stimulus money approved by Congress when the Democrats were in control helped during the heart of the recession, delaying layoffs of teachers and police officers while moderating cuts to Medicaid and other public health programs. Some states raised taxes and fees and tapped their rainy-day funds.
But even with a trickle of good economic news recently, state officials say no one should expect robust government spending anytime soon. Commitments still exceed incoming tax revenue in many states.
“It’s at a slow pace. But any improvement, no matter how small, is positive news,” said Todd Haggerty, a research analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Arkansas is among those states expecting to see a slight bump in tax revenue for the fiscal year that begins July 1, but it will not be enough to significantly restore funding to slashed programs and services. Worries about the strength of the economic recovery linger, making state officials hesitant to spend, said Richard Weiss, head of the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
“There are a lot of clouds out there, and there’s a lot of headwind out there that we’re very concerned about,” he said.
Twenty-nine states are spending less from their general funds today than they did before the recession, according to a recent joint survey from the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers.
More than 30 states have raised taxes since the recession began, but some of those increases were temporary and are expiring soon, as in Arizona. With the economy slowly reviving and unemployment rates dipping, many governors and lawmakers say they don’t want to jeopardize the recovery by raising taxes again.
But tax revenue is not expected to grow enough to make up for the impact of four years of dismal economic times. Rainy-day funds, internal transfers and other one-time sources have largely been tapped, so governors and lawmakers must look for new places to cut spending.
“They’ve done the easy cuts and only a few have budget reserves left,” said Elizabeth McNichol of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. “There aren’t really things that are sacrosanct any longer.”
Changes to public employee retirement benefits and sweeping reforms to health care programs such as Medicaid are among the most likely targets.
At least 17 states project budget gaps for the next fiscal year, while a handful need to balance budgets in the remaining six months of the current budget year. The revenue of all 50 states combined remains $21 billion below 2008 levels, according to the National Governors Association-NASBO report.
Budget gaps in states projecting shortfalls in the 2012-13 fiscal year are estimated to total $40 billion. By comparison, California alone closed a deficit of $42 billion in 2009, during the worst of recession.
The nation’s most populous state is again facing budget troubles, but the problem appears more manageable than during the past few years.
Even so, Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers have fewer options to close the $13 billion shortfall that is projected over the next 18 months.
In December, Brown ordered $1 billion in midyear spending reductions to public schools, universities and social services because tax revenue did not meet projections. The state has given school districts the option of slicing another seven days from the current school year, now 175 days long. That already is five days shorter than before the recession.
Low-income seniors and the disabled will get less in-home care when the reductions start in January. School advocates warn that an estimated 1 million students will have trouble getting to class with a drop in home-to-school transportation funding.
“The cut to transportation is absolutely devastating,” said Steve Henderson, a lobbyist for the California School Employees Association. “What that means is a lot of low-income and rural kids will not have the ability to get to school.”
Brown has proposed a 2012 ballot initiative to raise $7 billion annually through 2016 by boosting income taxes on individuals making $250,000 or more a year and increasing the state sales tax by a half-cent. He also has submitted a plan to the Legislature to revamp public employee pensions.
Washington state is considering similar cuts to cope with its shortfall, including shortening its school year, eliminating medical programs for 55,000 low-income residents and letting some low- and moderate-risk offenders out of prison early.
Missouri is reducing funding for elementary and secondary education to close a mid-year budget deficit tied to tornado recovery. North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, a Democrat, is warning of thousands of teacher layoffs next fall because federal aid to local school districts is running out.
In Colorado, Gov. John Hickenlooper has proposed deep cuts to K-12 funding and higher education, largely because of a spike in Medicaid enrollment.
“This doesn’t make us happy,” said Hickenlooper, a Democrat. “I don’t see a way to get around it.”
___
Associated Press writers Mike Baker in Olympia, Wash., Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Ark., Judy Lin in Sacramento, Calif., Ivan Moreno in Denver and Gary Robertson in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this story.
Over the next few days, water spewing through a Mississippi River floodgate will crawl through the swamps of Louisiana’s Cajun country, chasing people and animals to higher ground while leaving much of the land under 10 to 20 feet of brown muck.
The floodgate was opened Saturday for the first time in nearly four decades, shooting out like a waterfall, spraying 6 feet into the air. Fish jumped or were hurled through the white froth and what was dry land soon turned into a raging channel.
The water will flow 20 miles south into the Atchafalaya Basin, and from there it will roll on to Morgan City, an oil-and-seafood hub and a community of 12,000.
In the nearby community of Stephensville, rows of sandbags were piled up outside nearly every home.
Merleen Acosta, 58, waited in line for three hours to get her sandbags filled by prisoners, then returned later in the day for more bags.
Floodwaters inundated Acosta’s home when the Morganza spillway was opened in 1973, driving her out for several months. The thought of losing her home again was so stressful she was getting sick.
“I was throwing up at work,” she said.
The opening of the spillway diverted water from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and the numerous oil refineries and chemical plants along the lower reaches of the Mississippi. Shifting the water away from the cities eased the strain on levees and blunts the potential for flooding in New Orleans that could have been much worse than Hurricane Katrina.
C.E. Bourg stopped by a hardware store in the shadow of the Morgan City floodwalls to buy grease for his lawnmower and paint — items on his “honey-do list.” Floodwaters came close to overtopping in 1973, but since then, they have been raised to 24 feet and aren’t in danger of being overtaken.
Bourg, an attorney, said he represented a worker who was injured on the 70s-era floodwall project and learned a lot about how they were built.
“I got a copy of the plans,” he said. “This one’s built right, unlike the ones in New Orleans.”
The Morganza spillway is part of a system of locks and levees built after the great flood of 1927, which killed hundreds and left many more without homes. When the Morganza opened, it was the first time three flood-control systems have been unlocked at the same time along the Mississippi River, a sign of just how historic the current flooding has been.
Earlier this month, the corps intentionally blew holes into a levee in Missouri to employ a similar cities-first strategy, and it also opened a spillway northwest of New Orleans about a week ago.
Snowmelt and heavy rain swelled the Mississippi, and the river has peaked at levels not seen in 70 years.
In Krotz Springs, La., one of the towns in the Atchafalaya River basin bracing for floodwaters, phones at the local police department rang nonstop as residents sought information on road closings and evacuation routes.
Like so many other residents downstream of the Morganza, Monita Reed, 56, recalled the last time it was opened in 1973.
“We could sit in our yard and hear the water,” she said as workers constructed a makeshift levee of sandbags and soil-filled mesh boxes in hopes of protecting the 240 homes in her subdivision.
About 25,000 people and 11,000 structures could be affected by the oncoming water, and some people living in the threatened stretch of countryside — an area known for fish camps and a drawling French dialect — have already fled. Reed’s family packed her furniture, clothing and pictures in a rental truck and a relative’s trailer.
“I’m just going to move and store my stuff. I’m going to stay here until they tell us to leave,” she said. “Hopefully, we won’t see much water and then I can move back in. “
It took about 15 minutes for the one 28-foot gate to be raised in the middle of the spillway. The corps planned to open one or two more gates Sunday in a painstaking process that gives residents and animals a chance to stay dry.
Michael Grubb, whose home is located just outside the Morgan City floodwalls, hired a contractor this week to raise his house from 2 feet to 8 feet off the ground. It took a crew of 20 workers roughly 17 hours to jack up the house onto wooden blocks.
“I wanted to save this house desperately,” said Grubb, 54. “This has tapped us out. This is our life savings here, but it’s worth every penny.”
Three feet of water flooded Grubb’s home the last time the Morganza spillway was opened.
Water from the swollen Atchafalaya River already was creeping into his backyard, but Grubb was confident his home will stay dry. He has a generator and a boat he plans to use for grocery runs. The water from the spillway was expected to reach Morgan City around Tuesday.
“This is our home. How could we leave our home?” he said.
The crest of the Mississippi was still more than a week away from the Morganza spillway, and when it arrives, officials expect it to linger. The bulge has broken river-level records that had held since the 1920s in some places. As the water rolled down the river, the corps took drastic steps to protect lives.
The corps blew up a levee in Missouri — inundating an estimated 200 square miles of farmland and damaging or destroying about 100 homes — to take the pressure off floodwalls protecting the town of Cairo, Ill., population 2,800.
The Morganza flooding is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the corps each year in written letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway.
At the site of the spillway, water splashed over the gates on one side before a vertical crane hoisted the 10-ton, steel panel. Typically, the spillway is dry on both sides.
This is the second spillway to be opened in Louisiana. The corps used cranes to remove some of the Bonnet Carre’s wooden barriers, sending water into the massive Lake Ponchatrain and eventually the Gulf of Mexico.
By Sunday, all 350 bays at the 7,000-foot Bonnet Carre structure were to be open. The Morganza, a 4,000-foot long structure built in 1954, was expecting to only open up about a quarter of its 125 gates.
The spillways could be opened for weeks, or perhaps less time, if the river flow starts to subside.
In Vicksburg, Miss., where five neighborhoods were under water, a steady stream of onlookers posed for pictures on a river bluff overlooking a bridge that connects Louisiana and Mississippi. Some people posed for pictures next to a Civil War cannon while others carried Confederate battle flags being given away by a war re-enactor.
Larry and Paulla Dalrymple spent part of the day with a video camera, filming the river roll past a casino and swirl around the giant bridge pilings.
“Wow. It’s really running,’” Paulla said. “It’s amazing what the water can do — what it’s doing to people’s lives.”
Deslatte reported from Krotz Springs. Associated Press writers Michael Kunzelman in Morgan City, La. and Holbrook Mohr in Vicksburg, Miss., also contributed to this report.
Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, now promoting his new book “Leadership and Crisis,” says he doesn’t plan to run for president in 2012.
Republicans are seeking hopefuls to challenge President Barack Obama, but the 39-year-old governor said Monday his only political ambition is to run for governor again next year.
“I’m not being coy at all. I’m not running for president in 2012. Period. No ifs, ands or buts, no caveats,” Jindal told The Associated Press in an interview. “We have made great progress in Louisiana, but we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
Jindal’s book charts the rise of the 39-year-old son of Indian immigrants to the Louisiana governor’s office, while criticizing the Obama administration. It’s silent on any national ambitions.
In this Oct. 20, 2011, photo, child care aid recipient Sarah Comito kisses her son Matthew at their home in Oxnard, Calif. Advocates of welfare reform in California often cite one statistic as they have pressed for cuts and changes to the program in recent years: The state has one-eighth of the nation's population but one-third of all welfare recipients. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)(Credit: AP) 
In this Oct. 20, 2011, photo, child care aid recipient Sarah Comito kisses her son Matthew at their home in Oxnard, Calif. Advocates of welfare reform in California often cite one statistic as they have pressed for cuts and changes to the program in recent years: The state has one-eighth of the nation's population but one-third of all welfare recipients. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)(Credit: AP) 
Mississippi River floodwaters continue to creep up the Old Train Depot in downtown Vicksburg, Miss., Saturday, May 14, 2011. The waters from the Mississippi River and its tributaries are not expected to crest in Vicksburg until Thursday. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) (Credit: AP) 