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Commonwealth of Kentucky Office of the Governor | ||
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: |
Kerri Richardson 502.564.2611 502.330.6633 Jill Midkiff 502.564.2611 502.330.1185 |
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 21, 2009)—“The revenue estimates released by the Consensus Forecasting Group, while somewhat better than the preliminary October estimates, confirm what we have feared and suspected – we have an additional $100 million revenue shortfall in the current year, and that the upcoming biennial budget will be daunting and the most difficult Kentucky has faced in modern times. After cutting the budget five times and by $800 million, all the easy – and some difficult – choices have been made. As families across Kentucky have done, we have worked to protect our priorities while tightening our belt. The budget gap we face is greater than just the difference between projected revenues and what were are spending today. We have both increasing needs in several areas, and the stimulus funds that we have utilized to keep our budget in balance will be exhausted as of Dec. 31, 2010. As the General Assembly and I work to craft a budget for the next biennium, my priorities remain the same – protect services that are vital to our citizens, while positioning Kentucky to succeed when the economy turns around.
“I will be working over the coming weeks to develop a budget plan, which will be presented to the General Assembly for consideration on Jan. 19, 2010. I look forward to discussions with legislative leaders on how to address this fiscal crisis. We will have to consider numerous options to close the gap that exists between the resources we have and the needs of our state over the next two years. Kentucky families are making tough choices to get food on the table and bills paid – state government must continue to do the same.”
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