New Estimates Add $500 Mil. In Tax Revenues To Budget

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau’s new revenue estimates give the governor and legislature $500 million more to work with in the new state budget.

The extra money is largely due to an uptick in income and corporate income tax collections. Overall the bureau says the state has about $501 million more than previously expected.

While the number is sizeable, majority Republicans already have several competing ideas for how to spend it. Senate Finance Committee Co-Chair Alberta Darling (R-River Hills):

“We’re very concerned about the income tax cut. We’re very concerned about keeping property taxes down. We’re very concerned about making another contribution to education, we think. And we’re very concerned about bonding. And we’re concerned about growing the economy. So it’s good news today, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to celebrate and go off to a spending binge.”

Also on that list for many Republicans is erasing the structural deficit in the budget proposed by the Governor. This new revenue would just about do it, but only if lawmakers don’t spend it on anything else.