Thread by @mattbuxton

The House Finance Committee has been hearing the budget overview the Senate had several weeks ago, but it warrants repeating that a lot of what's in the governor's budget is short-sighted (either one-time money, one-time cuts).

#akleg

Legislative Finance Division Director Painter reminds them that overdraws on the era comes at the cost of increased future deficits. "Every time we overdraw, it increases future deficits ... which means we have to reduce services even more or raise taxes even more."

#akleg

Here's Painter's analysis of the what the overdraws would mean for the state. AKA big hits and a deficit that's roughly $200M - $300M larger.

#akleg

Wool criticizes the Dunleavy administration's lack of information or guidance on the state's fiscal plan (especially when it comes to new taxes): "It’s such a scarcity of information. … I'm just waiting to hear from whoever's listening some real suggestions."

#akleg

Also, earlier Painter pointed out how a lot of the one-time federal money is creating one-time reductions for Medicaid and the Department of Transportation. He says either the budget will grow once the federal CARES Act money runs out or it'll set the stage for cuts to them.

Painter says that most of the 44% cut to state budget came during FY 16, 17 and 18 (the Walker years) and we've been treading water since then. Says some increases since then (Public Safety, etc) have pretty much leveled out any new cuts.

After a line of questioning from Rep. LeBon, Painter says, "We would not have a deficit if we paid no dividend."

#akleg

(Which is not really a policy that has any real traction except for among the most ardent of anti-tax folks. The real question in front of the #akleg should be how to equitably balance the budget.)

And that's it for the House Finance's a.m. meeting. They'll be back at it in the afternoon.