Comments about ‘State budget looking bleaker’

Until something happens to improve job opportunities we have to cut back in all sectors. Some services may have to be curtailed. Our Federal government is not a good example. The average Federal worker of which there are 2 million gets $119,000 per year, vs the private sector less than half that if you have a job. We have enormous national debt and tremendous shortfalls of social security and Medicare. I am glad our state officials are being stringent. It may get worse.

Maybe it's time to tap into the rainy day fund. isn't that what it is there for...in times like these?!

REINSTATE THE FULL SALES TAX ON ALL PURCHASES.

Sales tax is the ONLY fair tax in our system--you pay taxes based on your consumption choices, but since everyone has to consume at some level, everyone pays.

REINSTATE THE FULL SALES TAX.

It is raining like never before!!!

Will they at least spring for more desks? Right now I am teaching 34 kids in a classroom that only has 32 chairs. Thanks to H1N1 I have had a few kids absent each day. If you stack the kids any deeper can you at least buy me a couple more desks for my classroom? Maybe we could get the hand-me-downs from when the legislature spent MILLIONS of dollars building themselves ultra modern new offices instead of adding to the rainy day fund. Maybe we could get a few of their old desks? Please?

I won't even ask for air conditioning. I know that would be too much.

How about a cap of what a public employee can make? Why are many public officials making more than ninety thousand a year?

Amen to anonymous. How about eliminating bonuses, increasing the taxes on the rich (those making over $300,000), increasing taxes of tobacco and alcohol, which have so many health related costs to taxpayers, and demanding that school districts stop wasting taxpayers' monies so that students and teachers can be adequately funded.

FUND EDUCATION BEFORE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE STATE EMPLOYEES. ITS REALLY RAINING NOW GOVERNOR, TAP THE RAINY DAY FUND

Double Dipping is costing millions of dollars and that could be stopped immediately-which would also solve some layoff problems as that move would decrease the number of state funded employees!

If our state law makers and legislators were really interested in cutting the burden on tax payers there are 2 simple things they can do.

1-Ask, Are you a citizen? And deny anyone any welfare, education, or health care who is not. That is the law and it's time to ask and tell. And force employers to abide by the same law or face big penalties. This would put tax paying americans in jobs that we need.

2-Stop all city, county, and state employees from their double dipping incomes. That is stop retirement pay and stay on the job and drawing 2 salaries at the same time. At least force a 5 year waiting period for retiree's before they can rehire or apply for any jobs with state, city, or county. It works in the federal government.

Doing just these 2 things would create a windfall surplus for the state and all government agency's. But I fear doing the right thing is the last thing they will do, too much lucrative fraud in these 2 areas of waste that our legislators also enjoy.

I don't know where that $119,000 figure came from. I googled and got about $75,000 including benefits which probably means gross pay is somwhere in the $60,000 range on average. That is above average but nothing was said about the types of jobs and resposibilites involved so it's hard to say if that is unrealistic or not compared to the entire gammet of jobs in the private sector including McDonalds and Walmart.

I don't think federal employees should be getting a 2% raise this year though regardless unless it's the military. The presidents staff will not be getting a raise....

If education wants to keep class sizes down, perhaps the teachers would take a large pay cut. I know that is insane to think, but we could still educate the kids and have better working conditions if teachers were willing to sacrifice. It is either that or start laying them off in droves.

How about we put all of the taxes on the table. There are all sorts of exemptions from sales taxes, not just the sales tax on food.

Let's revisit income tax, let's consider severance taxes (Utah has some of the lowest in the country), let's look at all of the sales tax exemptions that are out there, etc.

Why does the legislature refuse to even discuss these other taxes?

The State budgets haven't been cut enough yet. Notice that of the 2000 jobs eliminated there were "few" layoffs. All the departments did was give up open headcount that had been added in the last few fat years and use retirement enticements to get rid of some problem employees whose poor performance was never properly addressed when it should have been. It's lean times for all of us, cut the budgets, don't raise taxes!

It is the fairest way to tax for education. More kids eat more and take up more resouces in the schools.

I have opposed the sales tax on food for decades, but in our current situation, reinstating it makes sense. To cut thousands more jobs will increase unemployment and negatively affect all other sectors of the economy, making the problem worse. Cuts in an contracting economy, makes it contract more, please do not feed the cycle.

Another idea that will help is adjusting the Utah Retirement System so state workers able to retire will do so, rather than stay in their highest paying job for a decade, which drains the coffers, stifles the progression of the organization and increases the eventual pay out for the retirement system. In education, we pay some of the worst teachers the highest wage and due to tenure laws, we cannot get them out. Clear out the dead wood by giving them an offer they cannot refuse, retire now or get less of a retirement benefit. The URS must be adjusted anyway, so clear out the most expensive employees along with the reforms.

There are ways to make Utah more efficient and reverse the recession. I hope our lawmakers are wise enough to make it better not worse.

Several things need to be done with public budgets in the face of current economic conditions and going forward.

1. Freeze all state budgets immediately at 2008 levels of spending. And that means no COLA increases.
2. Freeze all building projects, including schools.
3. No state employee/executive travel.
4. No tax/fee increases, including food/alcohol.
5. Find a way to redo the budgeting process in order to do budgeting on past year revenues. Abandon the rediculous idea of forecasting tax revenues before funds are in the treasury. Forecasts have proven to be entirely unrealiable.

First of all state lawmakers should look and see what they can cut back in the perks they receive. Then there should be an honest independent watchdog organization set up to check on the contracts of state departments to see if there is waste or any sort of kickback arrangements being made.
Alot of ordinary state employees do not make that much but some heads do. There should also be a hold on creating new positions within departments(unless proven as a necessity).

Unfortunately, proposal #1 will not work. The US Constitution requires equal treatment for all PERSONS (not just citizens). A few years ago, California tried to deny public services to non-citizens (i.e., illegal aliens). The state was sued, and the federal courts held that public services must be made equally available to all persons, including undocumented aliens.

Take a pay cut, come on now be real. We are already underpaid. I can barely keep my family fed now on what I make in education. Now I have to worry about having a job next year too.