Thread by @edmontonjournal

BREAKING: Alberta budget 2019: Cities, universities, civil servants feel the fiscal pain #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

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The United Conservative Party government’s inaugural budget will reduce the size of Alberta’s public service by 7.7 per cent in four years, but fail to stave off the province’s rising debt, which is projected to hit $93.3 billion by 2022-23. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

By the end of March 2020, the budget projects 824 fewer full-time government jobs and 764 fewer jobs at post-secondary institutions and government agencies, like the Alberta Energy Regulator. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

While the government projects K-12 school enrolment to grow by about 60,000 students in the next four years, they’ll freeze education funding at $8.2 billion until 2022. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

Health care is seeing an increase in its budget by $200-million, bringing overall spending to $20.6 billion per year. This increase allocates $100 million to a mental health and addictions strategy, $40 million for an opioid response and $20 million for palliative care. #ableg

The south Edmonton hospital’s opening has been delayed four years to 2030 to match the expected growth in demand for acute care beds in the region. The proposed Child and Adolescent Mental Health building at the Royal Alexandra Hospital has also been deferred. #yeg #ABbudget

Coverage for partners and dependants under 65 as part of the Alberta Seniors Drug Benefit Program will end later this fiscal year and income testing for senior’s drugs will be explored. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

The tax on a carton of 200 cigarettes will increase by $5 to $55 per carton, effective as of 12:01 a.m. Friday. The province will also explore a tax of vaping products in order to reduce youth access to the market. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

The City of Edmonton will have less money from the province for infrastructure projects with the provincial budget detailing a nine per cent cut to municipal funding over the next three years. #yeg #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

A new funding model slated to start in 2022 with Edmonton receiving $211 million was scrapped in the budget. Instead, Edmonton is slated to get $184 million with future annual funding dependent on provincial revenues. #yeg #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget

The UCP Budget will scrap the tuition fee freeze and cut provincial funding to post-secondaries by up to 7.9 per cent this year. #ableg #abpoli #ABbudget #abed

Advanced Education spending will be cut by 12.5 per cent below 2018-19 levels to $4.8 billion in the next four years in order to “better align overall post-secondary funding with amounts provided in other provinces.” See the comparison here #ableg #abpoli #abed #ABbudget

The province will switch to a performance-based funding model by 2020-21 to focus “on accountability, student service delivery and job creation” in advanced education, a key recommendation of the MacKinnon panel report in September #ableg #abpoli #abed #ABbudget

Education and tuition credits are also being eliminated, and interest rates on provincial student loans will increase to prime-plus-one per cent. The change will cost a student paying off a $30,000 loan an additional $15 per month over 10 years #ableg #abpoli #abed #ABbudget

Trades get a major boost under the new budget which commits $10 million in total to Women Building Futures, $2 million to Skills Canada training and $11.4 million to CAREERS the Next Generation over four years. #ableg #abpoli #abed #abbudget

Despite the service cuts, spending in 2019-20 will go up 4.2 per cent to $58.7 billion, largely resulting from an estimated $1.5-billion cost of getting out of oil-by-rail contracts signed by the previous NDP government, Toews said. #ableg #abbudget

edmontonjournal.com/news/local-new…

Alberta Finance Minister and President of the Treasury Board Travis Toews speaks about Budget 2019, the United Conservative Party’s first since winning the 2019 provincial election. #ableg #abbudget