Steve Beshear’s doing a little media tour, but it’s hard to figure out what he’s trying to accomplish.
Setting the stage for his upcoming bad budget news? Maybe. After listening to his speech this morning at GLI’s Capitol Connection event, we’re convinced his message is simply that he’s got a lot of problems and no solutions.
He spent the first half of his talk explaining what we already know all too well — the state is screwed with its $456 million shortfall, and he’s got no plans to raise more revenue. That’s right. He’s given up on casino gaming and won’t push for a cigarette tax unless he gets to a point where he really needs it. On this point, at least, the folks at our table reacted with disgust.
So, what did Beshear say? That we’ve got to get in survival mode. He thinks Obama is going to get us some infrastructure projects. Oh, here’s some good news! A lot of other states are having the same problems as we are, and some of them are in worse shape.
He’s not going to abandon families and businesses that need help, and we’re not going to hunker down and hide. We think that means he’s going to try to keep investing in education, economic development and workforce training. In short, he was long on platitudes, short on specifics. His answer to the question about a cigarette tax was so typical Beshear-ian.
“We may get there (to the point we need it), and if we get to that point, it’s an option to look at.”
Seriously. After spending 45 minutes bemoaning the state’s economy, he’s wondering if we’re going to get to the point of desperation in which we’ll need money from a cigarette tax. This from a man who campaigned on a soapbox about leadership. We don’t know about you, but waiting to see if we’re going to need it, a point at which it will be too late to do it, isn’t the kind of leadership we need.
Beshear is doing a series of media interviews this week. Here are links to a few of them: WHAS Radio, Courier-Journal, WHAS-TV, Kentucky Public Radio. and Fox41.
12 responses so far ↓
1 Sirico // Dec 4, 2008 at 3:14 pm
…the state is screwed with its $456 million shortfall, and he’s got no plans to raise more revenue. That’s right. He’s given up on casino gaming and won’t push for a cigarette tax unless he gets to a point where he really needs it.
-Unless he gets to a point where he really needs it??? Wow.
This reminds me of the old joke where a guy goes to the roof of a skyscraper, decides to commit suicide, jumps off, and on the way down everyone on each floor can hear the man screamming “…so far so good”.
So far so good Beshear!
“The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country”. -President George W. Bush
2 sportschix // Dec 4, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Beshear-ian equals B*LLSH*T! Can we vote for a recall?
3 Factoid // Dec 4, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Now Beshear and Jonathan Miller are asking people for their ideas on how the state can save money.
Here’s a novel way…ollow through on your campaign promises to save money:
1) quit using the state aircraft to fly to political events. You said it was wrong when fletcher did it so it’s wrong for you too (regardless of whether your party pays for it it puts mileage and maintenance up).
2) eliminate any take home state cars for cabinet secretaries and commissioners. Fletcher did just that and now your people are all driving them around. Yes, Fletcher did do it…ask the fleet people.
3) stop the extra raises like 20K for Ralph Coldiron in Homeland Security hired by your chief of staff Adam Edelen because he worked with him at Thomas & King (Applebees franchise owners). Coldiron applied for the job with range of 60-80 meaning he knew salary yet your office (governor) gave him 20K more.
4) walk the walk and follow through on your statement (said repeatedly) that you would have Republicans and Democrats in your administration. An abundance of ideas is better than the worn out ones you are getting from your 1980′s retread appointees.
5)put a moratorium on the state travel including that in your office when wasteful. you spent a record amount on a japan trip (about 90,000 dollars) only to come back and announce few small companies locating here related to auto industry that actually was initiated by economic development folks in the last administration. Maybe that’s because part of your state costs for this trip were museum admissions and a tea class for the first lady…fine if she wants to do these things but they are not state expenses!
6) stop with the stupid reorgs. yes, Fletcher’s EPPC cabinet was too big and should have been broken into two cabinets. However, you did NOT need a Labor CABINET. This so called cabinet should be a department (it only has about 300 employees and that’s including Worker’s Comp which really functions on its own) plus a cabinet secretary is rarely in FRankfort to earn his 6) figure salary. He’s at home in west ky most of the week claiming he’s travelling.
7) Finally, rethink many of your high level appointments. I hear employees in Transportation and other agencies that morale is at an all time low (that’s saying a lot given last 10-15 years in state government especially transportation). Employees would like managers who are qualified and who are more than paybacks to big donors from your failed 1987 run for governor. State efficiency and and productivity would improve from this.
8) Finally, quit creating task forces and study groups for issues that have been studied to death! This includes asking people for lists like this one. You got elected to the office of governor with your six figure salary, a nice litte house, chef, staff to wait on you, drive you around, fly around the state, etc. Do what you were elected to do and make some decisions. Yes, sometimes they are tough but that’s what you were elected to do…so novel idea, do it!
4 Republican // Dec 4, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Someone should really look into the district re-org that Transportation did, to see how much the branch managers are being paid plus those who are now in the newly-created middle management positions. Also the rampant timesheet fraud that’s going on in some of the rural counties at the highway garages.
And it probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to offer a nice fat retirement window to induce some of those hallwalkers at the TCOB, SOB, CHR building and Plaza Tower to retire. Most of the big agencies have people falling all over themselves pushing paper; are they really contributing anything in the way of state services?
Cut the number of cabinets like Fletcher did — kill Labor and move it into Workforce Development, kill Personnel and move it into Finance & Administration (biggest mistake Fletcher made organization-wise was bumping Personnel back up to a cabinet to appease the late and unmissed Louis Coleman to have a black cabinet secretary), and so on.
There are lots of places the state could cut back on administrative costs if they really wanted to.
5 Just me // Dec 5, 2008 at 9:09 am
Jake, maybe you could look into the way this shortfall is going to affect education. All district Superintendent’s had to revise their budgets with a 4% decrease this week. Of all the things that can be cut, our public education system shouldn’t be one of them.
6 sportschix // Dec 5, 2008 at 10:17 am
Factoid….You are Right On!
7 Republican // Dec 5, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Just me, the public education system can and should be cut — starting with some of the bureaucrats in the central offices of even the smallest county school districts.
Do we really need a full-time school food service coordinator in BFE County? Or a full-time transportation director? Or a full-time federal programs coordinator?
Time was when the instructional supervisor handled federal grant programs, the truant officer (“director of pupil personnel”) handled the school bus garage, and so on. Even some of the smaller districts are top-heavy and I cannot imagine how top-heavy districts like Fayette and Jefferson are.
Plus there’s a huge bureaucracy in the Capital Plaza Tower — or maybe I should call that an educracy because goodness knows KDE is overstaffed with educrats.
8 amen corner // Dec 5, 2008 at 2:27 pm
agree with factoid…disappointing but accurate!
9 Thunder Storm // Dec 5, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Factoid replies … Now Beshear and Jonathan Miller are asking people for their ideas on how the state can save money.
What does that say about the state workforce. You have 33,000 employee experts. Are these peoples morale so low they have given up on their employers … or do they know better than anybody that Beshear or any governor never takes their suggestions seriously. Therefore they will not offer any.
We keep reading that morale is lower than even the Fletcher administration. I wonder why? No scandals, no corruption cases…
Could it be because Beshear has brought back all the incompetent non merits that Fletcher fired? Fletcher did keep the good ones, 61%.
If we bring back old non merits with their old ideas Kentucky will remain broke, not only financially but mentally and emotionally.
See ya in the unemployment line.
10 Thunder Storm // Dec 5, 2008 at 5:42 pm
From a State Journal post and there are many more on the Bluegrass politics site
Beshear can eliminate many non merit jobs and certainly SHOULD do that before attempting to cut services to the taxpayers.
Let’s be frank, All Deputy Secretary, all Deputy Commissioner, and Deputy Executive Director positions can be eliminated. All of them.
All chiefs of staff positions can be eliminated. All cabinet level PIO jobs can be eliminated without loss of services. These PIO duties can be handled by the Governors press corp. Eliminate highway Commissioner and all Deputy Highway Commissioner positions. The Secretary of KYTC and merit staff can handle these duties.
All Director positions can be eliminated. The Assistant Directors can and do all the day to day work for the citizens. They can report to the Commissioners or Executive Directors
Most of the job duties for the positions above are to attend meetings and conferences with each other. It’s a useless self supporting part of state government.
KYTC can eliminate the District non-merit positions and create savings for 50 or 60 highly paid positions.
State government can eliminate many merit manager positions. State government has:
1. Multiple supervisors under a Branch manager. Some supervisors are supervising only two or three staff.
2. One or more branch managers under an assistant director. Sometimes with only one or two branch managers.
3. One or two assistant directors under one director. Eliminate one to run the division.
Merge these supervisors and branch manager positions. There are too many layers of red tape and managers for state government to operate efficiently and fiscally.
If Beshear eliminated 50% of his non-merit staff, they savings would be huge. Certainly the average non-merit salary and benefit package averages more than $70,000 per position. Multiply that by 2,000 non-merit staff and you instantly create an ANNUAL savings of over $140,000,000. That equates to $1.4 BILLION every 10 years.
Eliminate 100% of in-state and out-of-state travel. With the technology available today from the simple telephone to web meetings with web-cams, online meetings, these are not needed. Saves travel costs and mileage reimbursements. Millions of dollars saved.
Eliminate thousands of state vehicles and related expenses, such as fuel, insurance and repairs, since all state travel has been drastically reduced. More millions of dollars saved.
Eliminate all take home vehicles. Hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars saved
Merge all personnel positions from all Cabinets into the Personnel Cabinet. This will create an efficiency of services plus eliminate duplication of positions across state government.
Identify all duplication of services and centralize into one location.
We have several print shops, computer centers, police agencies, insurance agencies.
We can handle the extra work if it means our fellow citizens will receive services with less red tape and less waste of taxpayer dollars.
The savings I have identified are close to or over $200 million. Raise the cigarette tax to $1 and add taxes to alcohol and you have virtually eliminated the $450 million state deficit. These will not cost services to the taxpayers.
11 Just me // Dec 6, 2008 at 8:02 am
Republican
Have you ever served on your local school board or worked in a public school system?
I’m pretty familiar with my own local school system (which isn’t a county system, but is very small). We have a transportation director (employed in another, unrelated capacity) but they get paid ZERO dollars for their extra work. Our food services coordinator does double duty, as well.
When the KDE *requires* a pay increase for teacher’s salaries, then cuts our funding (as they did this year), our system has to come up with the additional monies.
I can’t speak for every school system in the state, but I can assure you that our system doesn’t have an easy time removing 4% from an already bare bones budget.
12 Republican // Dec 6, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Just me, I live in a small rural district, and we do have a full-time transportation coordinator. I think it’s wasteful and an unnecessary position.
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