The News Journal reported on yesterday’s Delaware Economic and Finance Advisory Council (DEFAC) meeting yesterday with some not unexpected news: state budget money is going to be tight this year, real tight.
Difficult budget choices lie ahead for Gov. Jack Markell and lawmakers as the state deals with rising costs, the loss of $43 million in federal stimulus money and lagging tax revenues.Markell has not yet made any cost-cutting proposals, but increases in state employee benefits and Medicaid make it almost a certainty there will be some cuts.
The current forecast is not available on DEFAC’s website, so bloggers and commenters are kind of limited to the News Journal article today. The good news in all of this dire news of budget cuts is that Kenneth Lewis, an University of Delaware economist professor, sees the projections offering signs of economic recovery according to the News Journal.