Category: Malloy

Priority #1 – Telling the Truth – Budget Cuts Have Impacts

One more look at the new budget and higher education;

As the state of Connecticut finally steps up to deal with the financial crisis that threatens to derail it, one of the most serious challenges is to discern the difference between truth and political spin.

As we all know, all too often political spin has replaced virtually all honest dialogue about governmental issues at the Federal, state and local level. Here in Connecticut, the “political spin” began even before Governor Malloy delivered his Budget Address as the Governor and his team expertly created and maintained the mantra of “Shared Sacrifice”, along with a pledge to maintain funding for municipalities and not to destroy Connecticut’s Safety Net.

The importance of speaking honestly with the people of Connecticut about the reality of tax increases and budget cuts is perhaps nowhere more evident than when it comes to the reality facing those who attend or seek to attend one of Connecticut’s public institutions of higher education.

Despite the rhetoric, the undisputed truth is that as Connecticut state government makes cuts to its public colleges and universities, the cost of providing a high quality education is shifted more and more to students and their families.

That is not to say that our colleges should be exempt from cuts or that, like the rest of government, greater efficiency and effectiveness should not be demanded, but the truth is, it costs a lot of money to provide the type of education students need to succeed in the 21st Century.

In Connecticut, the overall level of state support has been decreasing over the past two decades.

For example, in 1991 the state provided 50 percent of the costs of running the University of Connecticut, today that percentage is below one third. As the overall budgets for UConn, Connecticut State University and the Community Colleges grew by well over 200% over the past two decades, the level of funding from state government increased by only about 80% Since funding for higher education comes from primarily two sources, the state and the students, without adequate increases in state funding, tuition and fees have been forced up in increasing amounts.

At UConn, tuition over the past two decades has gone up 284 percent, and well over 350 percent at CSU. The data are clear, the evidence is profound, the truth is that as the state makes cuts, costs are shifted to students and their families.

As a direct result of the state’s decision to remove money from UConn’s Operating Fund, tuition is already scheduled to jump 7%.

Yesterday, Governor Malloy proposed cutting Connecticut’s public colleges by about $70 million.

Malloy’s Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, Ben Barnes said the 10 percent cut was really 2 to 3 percent cut because the schools have “significant resources beyond their general fund block grants,”

When asked about the impact, Malloy’s Commissioner of Higher Education, Mike Meotti said “We just can’t project what this is going to mean on tuition yet…But you can’t really say ‘Ahhha, this is going to lead to tuition increases.

Ben Barnes and Mike Meotti are two the smartest, most capable people in state government or, for that matter, anywhere.

The fact is, the previously approved 7% tuition increase (needed to make up for last year’s cut) will mean an increase of about $700 for every student.

Cutting $21 million more, as Governor Malloy proposes will force tuition up even further. Can reductions and efficiencies reduce UConn’s need to come up with the $21 million?

Of course, savings can and will be found, but considering the primary costs of a university are faculty and staff, as well as energy and other necessary expenditures, the vast amount of the cut will need to be made up.  That is the simple truth.  Why?  Because higher education is an expensive endeavor to provide and a variety of factors including the by-laws and contracts that Connecticut’s public institutions must legally follow make it impossible for these institutions to cut $21 million in a single year.

The Commissioner of Higher Education knows that, the Secretary of the Office and Policy Management knows that and Governor knows that.

Spin is no replacement for the facts.

To make up for this additional cut, UConn would need to raise tuition by a total of 17 percent or about $1,700 per student. Equally significant impacts will be felt at Connecticut State University and the Community Colleges. To suggest otherwise is simply not being honest about the impact budget cuts have.

And if Connecticut is to successfully deal with this financial crisis, real, direct honesty on the part of our elected officials must be the number one priority.

Its Budget Day in Connecticut! Malloy to speak at noon

The debate will rest on the definition of “shared sacrifice” and “preserving the safety net”

Since Monday, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s strategy on raising taxes has become clear. Yes to building some degree of progressivity into the state’s income tax system by creating more tax (8 instead of three)brackets and adding an Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income working families.

Connecticut’s 10,000 millionaires, who won big after President Obama’s extended President Bush’s tax cuts, will be taxed at a rate of 6.7 percent, a modest rise of about 3 percent from the former top rate of 6.5 percent of income.

The Malloy administration’s argument is that if Connecticut taxes the wealthy any more, they will sell their homes, pull their kids out of school, turn their backs on their communities and move out of state.

The Malloy budget also eliminates the all-important local property-tax credit, a big hit for middle-class families who will also be burdened with an income tax hike.

As for state employees, they are now listed as Public Enemy No. 1.  The governor calls for $2 billion in concessions (starting with $1 billion this coming year.).  As noted, Malloy’s demand is for a “give-back” that is five times the amount Governor Rell got two years ago.

The single most incredible development in the entire process is the OPM official within the Malloy administration’s who threatened that if the state employees don’t roll over and provide the $1 billion in give-backs, the “alternate route to a balanced budget” will be far deeper spending cuts that will leave the social service safety net in “tatters and core services decimated.”

Thus, if services are decimated, it’s the state employee’s fault.

Meanwhile today, Malloy will be calling for $750 million in spending cuts – the vast majority hitting higher education and social services.

While Malloy pledged during the campaign to “preserve the state’s social service safety net,” his new budget leaves Medicaid $176 million short of what is needed to maintain the current level of services and nothing new to address the growing demand for services. 

Among his proposed cuts is to phase out prescription drug subsidies for the elderly and reduce dental and vision services for the poor.

He will also be laying out an agency consolidation plan that won’t save money this coming year, but will in the future.

The new budget will also attract more federal aid by creating a new “health care provider fee” that will be charged every time one gets health care – the benefit is that the federal government will reimburse 50 percent of that tax for the poor.  (It is a rather complex way of getting additional revenue, but it has certainly worked in the past.).

Overall, the governor will be proposing a $19.74 billion budget for the coming year – an increase of 2.4 percent.

Malloy panders to the talk-show crowd:

Governor Malloy (Photo by Christine Stuart/CTNewjunkie)

 [cross-posted from Pelto’s Point at newhavenadvocate.com]

Yesterday, it was a new tax plan that comes close to coddling the rich at the expense of the middle class.

 Today, it is the announcement that Malloy will seek $2 billion in employee concessions. 

Putting aside the “let’s beat the shit out of state employees,” the Malloy proposal isn’t shared sacrifice – it is scapegoating of the worst kind. 

Malloy has put out a number that is designed to fail.

When state employees end up paying their “fair share,” when they end up paying more than their “fair share,” Malloy’s political maneuver ensures that they still end up losing in the public opinion game.

Take a look at CTMirror’s story; http://ctmirror.org/story/11515/malloy-seek-2-billion-employee-concessions-over-two-years or CtNewsjunkie’s story http://www.ctnewsjunkie.com/ctnj.php/archives/entry/unions_will_be_asked_to_sacrifice_2b/

There is no question concessions are needed — major concessions at that — but anyone in the know, including the governor, knows that $2 billion is a number designed to fail.

During the last budget cycle, the state employee unions and Gov. Rell negotiated a “deal” to save the state almost a $1 billion over three years.  Of that, almost $400 million came out of the pockets of state employees through a wage freeze, a wage cut through unpaid furlough days and higher health care costs for some employees.

Under the deal, the bulk of the savings came from deferring critical pension payments — a move that was penny wise and a pound very foolish.  It was a move that Malloy himself repeatedly called “a budget gimmick.”  In fact, he rightfully said that when he was governor he’d make all required pension payments.

So Malloy knows another round of wage freezes, even more significant furloughs and even greater health care changes amount to about $500-$600 million – not $2 billion.  The $2 billion is nothing but a fraud, one designed to humiliate and punish state employees for – well, for being state employees.

Yes there are significant savings to be had.

Yes, state employee wages and benefits can and will be far more limited in the future.

Yes, the state must address and reform the long-term obligations associated with its present pension and health benefit system, but this tactic does nothing more than attempt to position the new administration on the side of those who blame state employees for decades of bad policy making by previous governors and legislators.

One of the most interesting points the Malloy administration revealed is that its point-person with the unions is Nancy Wyman’s closest aid and advisor.  Wyman, the same person has built a career and a reputation as the voice of reason and facts while serving as a champion for those hard-working, dedicated state employees who get up every day and work hard to provide Connecticut’s citizens with the programs and services they need and deserve to live better, safer and more fulfilling lives.

This Malloy proposal is just about as far as one can get from the work Nancy Wyman has done over the past 30 years.

The Malloy anti-state employee plan is beyond belief.

Wait, What? A Tax Plan That Would Make a Republican Governor Proud?

The CTMirror has posted a copy of Malloy’s tax plan: http://ctmirror.org/sites/default/files/documents/tax%20proposal.pdf and a corresponding story http://ctmirror.org/story/11505/malloy

More analysis to come in the coming days – but if you go outside – you’ll probably hear Connecticut’s wealthy popping the champagne bottles and toasting this tax proposal.

An new income tax rate of only 6.7% for those making over a $1 million while eliminating the all important property tax credit  — which is probably the single most important tax policy for middle-income families?

I suppose the good news is that since the top income tax rate will remain so much lower than New York and New Jersey – let alone – New York City that we can rest assured that our super wealthy won’t be selling their homes, pulling their kids out of school and heading to safe havens…

While the Administration will argue that the plan builds some “progressivity” into the income tax, it is limited at best and because it removes the all important property tax credit from the income tax it is a major hit to Connecticut’s middle income taxpayers.

Even in the worst of the previous two recessions the property tax credit was never reduced below $300 – now he is proposing eliminating it – a shocking hit to every middle class homeowner.

The plan also raises the gas tax – which disproportionately hurts middle class, working families who have no choice but to use their cars to get to work and meet the challenges of daily life. It also increases the sales tax rate and taxes clothing and non-prescription drugs…

But his does not broaden the sales tax to a variety of business services such as advertising.

We’ll know more in the coming days – but as of now – the wealthy in Connecticut pay about 5% of their income in state and local taxes while the rest of us pay about 10% of our income in state and local taxes. This plan does little (if anything) to balance Connecticut’s tax burden on middle income families.

At first blush – at least – it is a plan that would make a Republican governor proud!

Shared Sacrifice? What about the unshared sacrifice to date?

UConn Storrs (photo by uconnruf)

Are Connecticut’s public colleges and universities in the cross-hairs again?

Yeah…yeah… we’ve heard all it all before…“A well educated workforce is the key to economic growth and prosperity” and “The percentage of college educated workers is one of the single most important factors to a state’s economic health.”

However, when it comes to adequate state support for our public colleges and universities, Connecticut has a long and sad record of failure.

Twenty years ago, when we already ranked at the bottom of the nation, about half of UConn’s budget came from state funds.

This year, the state of Connecticut will cover less than a third of the University’s total operating expenses.

A similar story holds true at Connecticut State University and Connecticut’s Community and Technical College System.

Without enough state funds to fulfill their missions, Connecticut’s public institutions of higher education have been forced to become increasingly reliant on students and their parents to pick up the costs associated with running high quality educational programs.

Whether at UConn, CSU or the Community/Technical Colleges, tuition and fees are now paying for the lion’s share of the total operating cost.

Adding to the problem, at UConn, not only have there been record tuition increases but the University has dramatically increased the number of students as a way to raise additional revenue. Their rationale is simple – more students mean more tuition and fees, even if the end result is larger class sizes, fewer course offerings and the need to take more than 4 years to complete a basic bachelor’s degree.

Since the UConn 2000 infrastructure program began in 1995, the number of students at UConn has jumped from 14,500 to 21,500.  However, in a stunning tribute to the notion of “pay more, get less”, while the number of students has increased by 48 percent, the number of full-time faculty is up barely 15%.

As Governor Rell and the Legislature grappled for ways to “balance” this year’s budget without having to deal with any political ramifications they did something that had never, ever been done before.  Rather than “cut” the budget for Connecticut’s public institutions of higher education, they actually reached into the school’s internal operating fund and transferred more than $30 million in student tuition and fees over to the state’s General Fund.

Not only did the gimmick mean students and parents paid more in tuition only to see the money go to the state’s non-higher education costs but this maneuver amounted to the deepest percentage cuts to Connecticut’s public colleges in state history.

In recent weeks, the Malloy Administration has made it clear that they will be calling for shared sacrifice as they look for record budget cuts.  The problem is that that Connecticut families seeking a college degree have already sacrificed far more than their fair share.

Further complicating the notion of shared sacrifice is that fact that the new Administration and the Legislature fully understands that there are significant areas of the state budget where cuts are simply not possible – either because there is a consensus that the services are just to vital to cut or there isn’t the political will to make those cuts. 

For example, State government can’t cut its debt services payments; we’ve already learned the disaster associated with failing to make pension payments; Malloy has promised not to cut local education funding and every dollar cut from Medicaid (health programs) means an immediate loss of 50 cent in federal reimbursement.

So the notion of across the board cuts is absurd.

Certain areas will be cut deeper than others and Connecticut’s history is to cut our public colleges and universities knowing that if the schools really need the funds they can get them by increasing tuition.

While the Malloy Administration would not be alone in targeting cuts to higher education, California’s new governor has proposed nearly $2 billion in cuts to their colleges, it is important to note that not all states are undermining the work of their universities.

Gov. Robert M. McDonnell, Virginia’s Republican Governor recently proposed adding $50 million to their higher education budget.  It would be part his longer term plan to create a more educated workforce

Meanwhile, Sam Brownback, the new ultra-conservative Republican governor of Kansas has actually proposed a three-year, $105-million plan to enhance their university programs that educate students for high-paying jobs in areas such as aviation, cancer research, and engineering.

And not to be outdone, this year, North Carolina actually increased their higher education budget this year by 6%.

Of the 50 states, the average percentage of the state budget devoted to public higher education is 9%. 

Virginia already devotes 14% of its state budget to its public colleges, North Carolina 16% and Minnesota 23%. 

Connecticut is at 7.3% and dropping.

Cutting our colleges is bad for our economy, bad for middle class families and bad for our society.

Next Wednesday, budget day, will tell us a lot about what “shared sacrifice” really means

Killing the Golden Goose: Connecticut’s Non-Profit Providers and the sad legacy of undermining what works

Another key area to watch as Governor Malloy rolls out his FY 2012 proposed budget is how he handles funding for nonprofit providers.

As a growing number of people recognize, in Connecticut, the vast majority of essential human and social services are provided by a network of nonprofit, community-based providers.

Every day thousands of people turn to these nonprofit agencies to get the help they need and deserve – services that is not only making life better for those individuals and their families – but also better and safer for Connecticut.

Being nonprofit and community based, nonprofits, these agencies are able to provide high quality critical services in a very efficient and effective manner.  If these nonprofit agencies and the services they provide were not available, the cost to Connecticut and its taxpayers would be much higher as residents were forced to seek services in far more expensive venues such as emergency rooms or other state programs.

So how has state government being dealing with its non-profit providers? 

Faced with rising demand (as a result of this Great Recession), the state of Connecticut has totally and completely failed to provide any cost of living increases over the last three years –  after an even longer period of perennial underfunding. 

The reality is, despite skyrocketing costs associated with energy, insurance and medical related costs (among other factors), nonprofits have gotten no adjustment, no increase, no support despite the obvious benefits they provide and the growing need for their services. 

Although unreported, the impact of Connecticut’s failure to properly support its nonprofit, as revealed in a recent survey of providers, has been dramatic;

40% of Connecticut’s nonprofits have delayed or refused admission for new clients

63% have been forced to reduce the level of direct services to residents

65% have reduced employee benefits

68% have further increased employee contributions for health care

80% have eliminated positions

80% have delayed hiring and kept vacancies open.

Democrats and Republicans alike continue to claim that they support vital human and social services, yet their actions speak louder than words. 

The legacy of inadequate state funding means many nonprofit providers have been forced to reduce services, expand waiting lists and cut staff and hours.  Few, if any, have been able to address the growing demand as more and more individuals and families find themselves in trouble – or even crisis – due to this bad economy

So now the question is what will happen next?

Governor Malloy pledged during the campaign to protect the state’s “safety-net” and yet his recent pronouncement that he will cut $2 billion dollars from the current services budget portends that Connecticut’s non-profits are about to get shafted again,. 

This despite the fact that we have learned from the last three state budgets  that no cost of living adjustment for nonprofit providers is nothing short of a decision to reduce the level of available services for the most vulnerable citizens among us.

The Governor says he will preserve the State’s safety-net, a goal that simply can’t be achieved if the next budget has the effect of reducing essential humans services yet again?

Malloy Administration Make More Walk the Plank (according to sources)

The news late today is that  the Malloy Administration has sent another two former Rell people packing.

The latest two are Jeff Litke and Louis Fulinello, both of whom were employees of the Department of Economic Development.  Previously Litke worked as Executive Assistant to Lisa Moody while Fulinello was a staff assistant in Rell’s Office. This brings the total of Rell staffers to be fired to at least 7.

In a post yesterday I raised questions about why the new Administration had fired Nora Duncan.  Duncan, who did work for Rell’s legislative office for two years, is much better known as a leading voice for Connecticut’s nonprofit providers of community services.

In yesterday’s post I questioned who was making these employment decisions and if Malloy or Wyman has authorized Duncan’s firing considering both have been such strong supporters of Connecticut’s nonprofits.

Things to Watch in Malloy’s Budget Proposal – Municipal Aid

Governor Dannel Malloy recently signaled that he plans to cut $2 billion dollars from Connecticut’s next state budget.

State Aid (courtesy of CT Mirror)

At the same time, he and his Administration have also pledged to do their best to refrain from dumping the state’s problems onto the cities and towns – signaling to the towns that they will not be the target of major reductions in municipal aid.

During the gubernatorial campaign Malloy even promised not to cut the Educational Cost Sharing Formula – the state’s primary mechanism for providing towns with funds to support local educational expenses.

Behind and underneath the debate about what Connecticut can “afford” to transfer to its cities and towns is the even more complex issue of how the formulas that distribute those funds are constructed.

Over the past twenty years, some of Connecticut’s most important funding formulas have been so corrupted (aka modified) by political maneuvering that they no longer reflect the underling goals for which they were created.

As discussed in earlier commentary pieces, the $1.9 billion ECS formula is a case study about how a formula can change over time to address political rather than policy goals.

With Republican Governors and increasing numbers of Democrats representing wealthier Fairfield County communities, the ECS grant has been changed significantly since it was first adopted about twenty five years ago. 

Over the past decade, Greenwich’s ECS grant has increased by 1,002 percent (from $310,000 to $3.4 million) while the grant for New London has gone up by 20.1 percent ($19 million to $23 million).

A similar pattern true across the state; 

Hartford’s ECS grant has risen by 19 percent and Windham’s is up by 25 percent

Yet Darien’s received a1,532 percent increase in the ECS grant over the past 10 years, Westport’s a1,320 percent increase, Weston’s is 858 percent higher and Wilton’s is up 3,212.

Connecticut’s poor communities still get the vast majority of state funds but wealthier towns have done a good job in ensuring that the rate of growth has favored them.

The original goal of the ECS formula was to target state aid to poorer communities so that they had the funds necessary to provide their children with a quality education (a policy that is constitutionally mandated in Connecticut). 

The amount towns received was driven by a formula that took into consideration the town’s wealth and the level of student need (as defined by the level of poverty, standardized test results and the need for English as a second language).

Widely recognized as a “national model” when it was created, Connecticut’s public officials have adopted various changed to the formula in almost every legislative session since.

The changes that were made in the late 1990s and early 2000s were “institutionalized” in 2005 when the Legislature started determining a town’s ECS grant allocation by simply adopting a set annual increase over the grant the town received in the previous year.  By applying an across the board percentage increase for each town’s grant year after year there is no longer any on-going consideration of the underlying issues that were supposed to be addressed by the formula.

Some public officials, perhaps none more than Nancy Wyman, have recognized and articulated the need to return to the fundamental issues that the ECS formula was intended to address.

Considering state government lacks sufficient state resources to maintain the present – albeit broken – educational funding system, let’s hope that the Malloy Administration uses this extraordinary opportunity to actually restructure and redirect scarce resources to where they are most needed. 

Simply capping the level of municipal aid – and maintaining the present distribution formula – disproportionately hurts the very towns that need the aid the most while protecting the towns that have the least proportional need.

When it comes to ensuring a good educational system, Connecticut’s constitution is one of the most clear and direct in the nation.  State government MUST help towns provide each child with a quality education.

As Governor Malloy tackles the state’s fiscal crisis, he has the moral and legal obligation to adopt a budget that is fair and equitable and that means going beyond simply addressing the level of municipal aid but addressing the funding formulas that distribute those funds.

Walk the Plank!

Last week, the Malloy Administration dismissed three more of the former Rell staffers who were quietly shifted out to “safer” state agency positions during the closing weeks and months of Rell’s tenure.

These most recent firings bring the total number of Rell staff that has been shown the door to five and this latest action raises even more questions about the criteria the Malloy Administration is using to decide which Rell people to keep and which dump.

Unlike the first two, who were simply not qualified for their new positions according to the Malloy Administration, this time Malloy people reported that these former Rell staff were simply the latest to go in an on-going effort to eliminate unnecessary positions.

While a number of key Rell staff remains in place, the Department of Transportation fired Philip Smith (who had served in Rell’s Office of Policy Management), David Gasior (who had served directly as an assistant in Rell’s office) and Nora Duncan who had been given the position of “legislative program manager” for the Department of Public Works after serving for two years as a  Policy and Legislative Affairs advisor in Rell’s Office.

Unlike the others who had gotten their original jobs due to their Republican campaign work and connections, Nora Duncan has a long and impressive record of advocating on behalf of essential social and human services.  Before joining the Rell administration, Nora served as Public Policy Director for the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits and Project Director for the Connecticut Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet.  In that capacity she was one of the most visible and effective voices for those who need and deserve community based services.

So the question is – why target her for dismissal.  Hardly a classic Republican, a quick check of the 2008 and 2010 Federal and State campaign contribution databases reveal that Nora Duncan did give $150 to Republican Gubernatorial and Lt. Gubernatorial candidates Fedele and Boughton but she also donated to Democrat Chris Murphy.

Dan Malloy has long articulated strong support for Connecticut’s nonprofits providers and the essential services they provide.  In fact, when he was gearing up to run for Governor he even served as the keynote speaker at the Connecticut Association of Nonprofit’s annual convention, the very group Duncan worked for.   At the time he pledged to create a cabinet level position in order to elevate support for Connecticut’s nonprofit, a promise he fulfilled when he nominated Deb Henreich to that position earlier this month.

It would certainly seem that Nora Duncan’s expertise with Connecticut’s nonprofits would be particularly valuable to the new Administration.

As discussed in earlier blog posts, it is not surprising that the new Malloy Administration is looking to divest itself of Rell political appointees but the decision to fire Nora Duncan seems out of place when compared to other Rell allies who remain in their posts.

All this raises the question, who exactly is making the decisions when it comes to these relatively high ranking political and policy jobs.

A fair question is whether Dan Malloy or Nancy Wyman approved these dismissals.  I haven’t seen the question asked yet but hopefully it will be soon.

Senators offer Malloy more power to cut budget…

Last week Brian Lockhart of the Stamford Advocate identified a 2011 proposed bill that deserves more attention – followed by a quick defeat.  

Proposed Bill No. 187, sponsored by Senators Bob Duff (Norwalk), Joan Hartley (Waterbury) and Gayle Slossberg (Milford) is called An Act Granting Power to the Governor to Balance the Budget . 

It is a vehicle for giving the Governor more “budget authority” by allowing him to make even deeper cuts to the state budget without legislative approval.

Our (well-meaning) elected officials would do well to remember the important words of Thomas Jefferson when considering giving the Executive Branch powers that rightfully belong to the Legislative Branch. 

 “If the three powers maintain their mutual independence on each other our Government may last long, but not so if either can assume the authorities of the others.” – Thomas Jefferson

Concepts like the line item veto or granting the governor greater ability to refuse to follow a budget that has been passed and duly signed into law is a bad idea – regardless of who serves as Governor (or President). 

I remember strongly opposing the concept when Bill Clinton asked for and received line item veto authority in 1996.  After watching the Bush years in Washington and the Rowland/Rell years in Connecticut, I’m more convinced than ever that instead of trying to duck the issue of fiscal responsibility, we do better to simply hold legislators accountable if they fail to do their job and fulfill their duties.

I’m very glad to see Governor Malloy is quoted as saying that this legislation is not needed.  The fact is, it is simply not appropriate for the Legislative Branch of Government to grant the Executive Branch this additional authority.

Brain Lockhart’s blog can be found here: http://blog.ctnews.com/politicalcapitol/2011/01/28/senators-offer-malloy-more-power-to-cut-budget/#comment-8044

This proposal mirrors the debate in Washington….where President Obama has actually asked Congress to pass a modified and more extensive line-item veto law.

Here are some other interesting thoughts about the Legislative Branch abdicating its authority by giving the Executive Branch more power (such as through the line item veto or greater rescission authority).

“…[T]he line-item veto is a convenient distraction. The vast bulk of the deficit is not the result of self-aggrandizing line items, infuriating as they are. The deficits [have been] primarily caused by unwillingness to make hard choices on benefit programs or to levy the taxes to pay for the true costs of government.”  – USA Today, March 23, 2006

 “Such tools, however, cannot establish fiscal discipline unless there is a political consensus to do so…. In the absence of that consensus, the proposed changes to the rescission process …are unlikely to greatly affect the budget’s bottom line.  –Former CBO Director Donald Marron, Testimony before Congress’s House Rules Committee

 [The line item veto] “would aggravate an imbalance in our constitutional system that has been growing for seven decades: the expansion of executive power at the expense of the legislature.” – George Will, The Washington Post 3/16/06