24 March 2009

Legislature 2009: The Budget

Lawmakers hope to hear from Gov. Joe Manchin sometime today about where they could shave nearly $200 million from the proposed budget he handed them last month, The Associated Press reports.

The governor has pressed his cabinet agencies for places to cut, and he's also made a similar request of the rest of state government: the Legislature, the Supreme Court and the other executive branch offices that make up the state Board of Public Works.

All but one of these other entities honored the request, according to administration officials who decline to identify the holdout.

Legislators tell AP that the increased spending in the proposed budget might be the first to go, though the article notes that:

Lawmakers may not find much to cut among the proposed increases. More than half of the $124 million reflects payments to public pension programs. Another $20.6 million is for a special fund meant to cover future health care benefits of retired state workers.

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