The March forecast came out and we now have only a $5 Billion deficit not the previous $6.2 Billion. I suppose we could all jump up and down, but of course these are still only projections. Some of this difference is capital gains, which can change quickly as we have seen in the past.

What the Governor has done however, is once again use a mix of taxes and services to put the $1.2 Billion back in the budget. He eliminated his temporary tax increase and on the other side of the equation eliminated the rate reduction to in home and nursing home services.

The Governor’s use of both income tax and reduction in services continues his pledge to spread the pain. We hope the Legislature will continue to consider this method of budget balancing. We must continue to ask them to consider taxes.

The Legislative Leaders continue to say they will present their budget later in March.

We do know that Rep. Abeler, Chair of the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee is working on his budget as I am writing this. Stay tuned!

For full details, visit the 2011 session page on our website.