Jan. 14, 2009

Statement from Rep. Bill Hinkle on the governor's
State of the State address

“There were some good things in the governor’s speech, no doubt. Her initial budget proposal did not include tax increases. This is a good thing. Our families are struggling more and more every day just to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads and gas in the car. We can’t be adding to that burden by raising taxes. Taxpayers definitely should not be called upon to bail out state government.

“She also called upon us to look after each other and to help our neighbors out. Again, I agree with this concept. This is part and parcel with being a good citizen. We’ve lost that sense of community in some cases with government serving as institutional charities, trying to be everything to everybody when, in fact, we as citizens are called upon to watch out for our neighbors.

“However, I was disappointed the governor didn’t address the structural problems with the budget. We didn’t get to the point where we have a six- or seven-billion dollar deficit overnight. We can’t lay the entire blame on the national economy. Over the last four years, state spending has increased by 33 percent – that’s eight billion dollars in just four years! We’ve spent far beyond our means and now it’s catching up to us. When the structure itself is grossly flawed, there’s no emergency relief fund available to bail us out.

“I would also like to see the governor publicly take tax increases off the table. While her budget doesn’t include tax increases, I don’t have the same hopes for the House and Senate budget proposals yet to come. My fear is the Legislature will simply ignore her 'no-new-taxes' strategy by crafting a budget that relies on some sort of tax-increase package, send it to the voters, and then get out of town.

“I believe our citizens and our families deserve better than that.”

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