Radio Address: Democrats Must Stop the Spending Spree and be Fiscally Responsible
February 23, 2016
(MP3 Audio)Living within a budget takes discipline and good fiscal management.
Hello, this is Governor Paul LePage.
Mainers understand how to live within their means.
Unfortunately, socialist democrats do not understand the meaning of fiscal management. We all remember last year?s Christmas in July scandal when they spent $300 million more than was needed in the two-year budget. We aren?t even a full year into that budget and they are already coming back to the trough to spend more forecasted money that hasn?t even come in yet.
Fiscal discipline is important in government to improve and sustain economic vitality.
Since I have been in office, state agencies have worked hard to live within the budget the Legislature creates.
Previous administrations made it a habit to ask for additional money in between budget years; however, our administration has stopped that practice.
Moody?s Investors Service, a leading provider of global credit benchmarks, has affirmed their credit rating on the State of Maine?s general obligation debt to a ?Aa2? rating while improving their outlook on Maine?s debt from negative to stable.
According to Moody?s, ?The stable outlook reflects their expectation of revenue stability going forward and the state?s adequate flexibility to manage spending pressures.?
If there is one lesson to take away from the Moody?s rating, it is that Republican reforms are working for Maine. It was Republican efforts to repay our hospitals, reform the public pension system, and maintain the balance of the budget stabilization fund, also known as the Rainy Day Fund that led Moody?s to improve their outlook for our state.
Good public policy strengthens the economy and it?s reflected in the latest revenue projections. Experts say millions will be available in the coming months. That money should go right into the Rainy Day Fund, where it can protect the State from a future economic downturn. The State?s current balance would only fund state operations for 8.5 days in the event of a catastrophic event. The Boston Federal Reserve has recommended that we need 30 to 40 days to improve our state?s financial strength.
But, Democrats are trying to steal that money. They want to use those taxpayer dollars to create what they call a ?supplemental budget,? which is nothing more than saying their $300 million spending spree wasn?t enough. They want to spend more money on things we don?t need.
Not only do they want to spend every dollar that?s projected to come in, they also want to raid over 20% of the Budget Stabilization Fund to send more money to ballooning school budgets, money that they are using as ransom for providing tax relief to small businesses in Maine. This $23 million would be a windfall for runaway state education spending, which has already increased by $80 million over the last budget.
And finally, stealing money out of the rainy day fund would again jeopardize the state?s credit rating, which we have worked hard to improve. The amount they propose to spend would fund nearly 2 full days of state government operations, bringing us 2 days closer to financial collapse.
Bad fiscal management leads to out of control spending, persistent deficits, rising debt levels and ultimately a bad credit rating for the state. Socialist democrats must stop the spending spree.
We need the political fortitude to be fiscally responsible.
It?s not only the right thing to do; it?s the will of the Maine people.
Thank you for listening.