Monday, October 15, 2007

"Build 48 More Casinos, Governor"

New Jersey's Governor Jon Corzine has a problem for which Kentucky's Steve Beshear would have a quick answer.

New Jersey has a $3 billion hole in its budget. Corzine has avoided the problem as long as possible with other types of flimflammery:

One challenge will be to replace $1.9 billion in "one-shot" cash that will be gone after the current budget year. The administration this year tapped a $940 million surplus to help balance the books. The current budget also used $650 million stashed away from last year to pay for rebates. And Corzine won't be able to duplicate about $340 million in raids he made on funds dedicated to specific programs like disability insurance.


Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley gave us a preview of what Year Three in the Beshear administration would look like:

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Monday plans to call a special session of the General Assembly with the hope of securing quick action on his plan to close a $1.7 billion budget shortfall by raising several taxes and legalizing slot-machine gambling, his office said yesterday.