Dear Stephen,
I am sorry for the delay in responding to you but the
volume of my mail has been overwhelming. There is no remedy for public
response for fail to fund a particular program, except at the voting
booth. To avoid such cuts, new revenue is necessary which has been
proposed but opposed. You will remember the Senate Majority opposing
the plan for VLT at the racetracks. Cuts under 5 % are the statutory
authority of the Governor and I know he has avoided cuts to education
when possible.
I hope this is helpful.
julian.carroll@lrc.ky.gov
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Interview with KY Representative Jim DeCesare on 4/14
I was lucky enough to get the attention of one of our state Rep's - Jim DeCesare (R) from Warren Co. for an interview to gain some insight to the state's budget crisis and ask some direct questions. While the facts surrounding some of my more involved questions remain a little fuzzy, Rep. DeCesare did go into detail about portions of the legislative process that explain why this matter isn't as cut and dried as my original approach may have suggested. I'll briefly go over some of the questions that I had intended to ask, then review my conversation with Mr. DeCesare in an attempt to describe the situation more accurately with the information he generously shared with me. Ok, let's get started!
The original set of questions weren't especially relevant in the context that I had presented initially because of my misunderstanding of the legislative process and misconceptions about the distribution of state funds.
Q #1. How can I find out what the absolute total budget was for the last fiscal year (including everything the state received and distributed from all sources inside and outside the state)?
A - Rep. DeCesare recommended the site www.opendoor.ky.gov for state expenditures that are made public, and that a formal open records request could also be submitted. Although these government sites are designed to provide a comprehensive and transparent analysis of our budget, it was impressed on me that full disclosure wasn't available.
Q #2. What is your particular stance on the cuts? (Do you favor or oppose the cuts and why?)
A - Although I was unable to get a direct answer on this, based on our conversation I assume that Rep. DeCesare didn't consider the cuts to be unreasonable. However, the percent of revenues scheduled to be cut from each county presents an issue depending on the county's location and population. In Rep. DeCesare's district, this is going to have a greater impact.
Q #3. How does the state consider it reasonable that education should foot 5% of the budget shortfall when it doesn't receive 5% of the budget?
A - Rep. DeCesare explained that 60% of state funds go towards education instead of the measly 5% or less that I stated. I asked if that included everything from in-state and government(everything the state gets for anything all put together), and unfortunately my question was either misunderstood, too hard to explain, or redundant (in the sense that it had already been answered) because I was still unsure afterwards.
Q #4. What projects or subsidies aren't receiving cuts in the next fiscal year's budget and why not?
A - I didn't present this question because the answers to my previous question(#3) didn't leave me with enough argument against funding for other projects or subsidies. The argument against other projects or subsidies is only valid supposing education would bear an unfair portion of the budget shortfall in proportion to what it actually receives. Assuming education actually receives 60% of the total budget, 5% of the shortfall doesn't seem as significant.
Q #5. What are the ways in which it is possible to force revision of the cuts?
A - I asked if it was even possible or too late for a number of people to take action and "force"(persuade) the House to revise the budget in favor of reducing the proposed cuts to education. Rep. DeCesare told me that it isn't too late and yes it is possible if the right people contact the right representatives in the right way in the right amount of time. As described to me by Mr. DeCesare - the budget is proposed by the Governor and then voted on by the general assembly(House). Theoretically, if enough Representatives were convinced the cuts were more likely to produce unfavorable results versus an alternative, the proposal would be voted against and revisions made.
The original set of questions weren't especially relevant in the context that I had presented initially because of my misunderstanding of the legislative process and misconceptions about the distribution of state funds.
Q #1. How can I find out what the absolute total budget was for the last fiscal year (including everything the state received and distributed from all sources inside and outside the state)?
A - Rep. DeCesare recommended the site www.opendoor.ky.gov for state expenditures that are made public, and that a formal open records request could also be submitted. Although these government sites are designed to provide a comprehensive and transparent analysis of our budget, it was impressed on me that full disclosure wasn't available.
Q #2. What is your particular stance on the cuts? (Do you favor or oppose the cuts and why?)
A - Although I was unable to get a direct answer on this, based on our conversation I assume that Rep. DeCesare didn't consider the cuts to be unreasonable. However, the percent of revenues scheduled to be cut from each county presents an issue depending on the county's location and population. In Rep. DeCesare's district, this is going to have a greater impact.
Q #3. How does the state consider it reasonable that education should foot 5% of the budget shortfall when it doesn't receive 5% of the budget?
A - Rep. DeCesare explained that 60% of state funds go towards education instead of the measly 5% or less that I stated. I asked if that included everything from in-state and government(everything the state gets for anything all put together), and unfortunately my question was either misunderstood, too hard to explain, or redundant (in the sense that it had already been answered) because I was still unsure afterwards.
Q #4. What projects or subsidies aren't receiving cuts in the next fiscal year's budget and why not?
A - I didn't present this question because the answers to my previous question(#3) didn't leave me with enough argument against funding for other projects or subsidies. The argument against other projects or subsidies is only valid supposing education would bear an unfair portion of the budget shortfall in proportion to what it actually receives. Assuming education actually receives 60% of the total budget, 5% of the shortfall doesn't seem as significant.
Q #5. What are the ways in which it is possible to force revision of the cuts?
A - I asked if it was even possible or too late for a number of people to take action and "force"(persuade) the House to revise the budget in favor of reducing the proposed cuts to education. Rep. DeCesare told me that it isn't too late and yes it is possible if the right people contact the right representatives in the right way in the right amount of time. As described to me by Mr. DeCesare - the budget is proposed by the Governor and then voted on by the general assembly(House). Theoretically, if enough Representatives were convinced the cuts were more likely to produce unfavorable results versus an alternative, the proposal would be voted against and revisions made.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
3/5/10 Can we stop cuts to education?
I've created a letter as follows to be forwarded this week to all the senators and representatives of our state. Hopefully there will be some encouraging responses. The letter reads -
Dear Senator/Representative,
I am a full-time college student at BCTC in Lexington and am studying the budget crisis as part of a sociology project. More specifically, I am interested in the $46M in budget cuts to education over the next fiscal year. I have recorded the specific amounts per county scheduled to be cut already, and the percentages scheduled to be cut from the different areas of education depending on the county varies considerably. I would like to know as specifically as possible what alternatives there are to cutting funds from education or if there is a legal prevention method that citizens can engage in to force the state from approving the cuts that I’ve mentioned.
My project is a case study focusing on cuts to the state’s education budget. Its purpose is to determine what would need to be done so designated cuts could be taken from other areas. Please don’t underestimate my ablity to understand whatever you may feel necessary in your explanation or my determination to follow through with whatever actions you could recommend towards the outcome I suggested favorable in education. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and I hope the question that I’ve presented you is not too daunting for a quick reply. Your response is necessary for me to obtain a grade for this project.
Please contact me through any of the methods that I’ve listed below. I am a second-year student (undecided major) with a high level of participation in college organizations including Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, BCTC Republicans, and Student Government. I plead your assistance in helping along my understanding of our own responsibility as citizens and our ability to participate in facilitating what is in the best interests of the people of the state.
Thank you again for your time.
To allow for full disclosure to my peers and professor, I've created a blog site where you may view my study's progress and comment at any time. I would be grateful for any comments or advice that you would be willing to share with us at any time. Please take care. We are all grateful for the job you do.
Dear Senator/Representative,
I am a full-time college student at BCTC in Lexington and am studying the budget crisis as part of a sociology project. More specifically, I am interested in the $46M in budget cuts to education over the next fiscal year. I have recorded the specific amounts per county scheduled to be cut already, and the percentages scheduled to be cut from the different areas of education depending on the county varies considerably. I would like to know as specifically as possible what alternatives there are to cutting funds from education or if there is a legal prevention method that citizens can engage in to force the state from approving the cuts that I’ve mentioned.
My project is a case study focusing on cuts to the state’s education budget. Its purpose is to determine what would need to be done so designated cuts could be taken from other areas. Please don’t underestimate my ablity to understand whatever you may feel necessary in your explanation or my determination to follow through with whatever actions you could recommend towards the outcome I suggested favorable in education. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and I hope the question that I’ve presented you is not too daunting for a quick reply. Your response is necessary for me to obtain a grade for this project.
Please contact me through any of the methods that I’ve listed below. I am a second-year student (undecided major) with a high level of participation in college organizations including Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society, BCTC Republicans, and Student Government. I plead your assistance in helping along my understanding of our own responsibility as citizens and our ability to participate in facilitating what is in the best interests of the people of the state.
Thank you again for your time.
To allow for full disclosure to my peers and professor, I've created a blog site where you may view my study's progress and comment at any time. I would be grateful for any comments or advice that you would be willing to share with us at any time. Please take care. We are all grateful for the job you do.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
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