Nebraska lawmakers begin closing budget gap, but have eye toward a bigger hole in future

Neb. lawmakers begin closing budget gap

LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska lawmakers on Tuesday gave first-round approval to a plan to close a roughly $48 million gap in the current, two-year state budget while casting an eye toward what could be a massive budget hole next year.

“There’s not much that would have to go awry and we could be facing a billion-dollar budget deficit,” during the next budget cycle, said Sen. John Wightman of Lexington, a member of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee. Such a deficit, he said, is “hard to grasp.”

Current estimates peg the budget deficit for the two-year budget that will begin in July 2011 at roughly $670 million. Lawmakers will craft that budget during the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Included in the budget plan that addresses the $48 million gap in the current two-year budget, is a requirement that state agencies tell lawmakers how they can streamline their operations, including if work could be limited to four days a week. Those actions are meant to help prepare for the next two-year budget.

But at least one lawmaker believes not enough is being done to brace for what could be a historically large budget deficit.

“I think next year, folks, we’re going to be feeling the pain our sister states … have felt,” said Sen. Dennis Utter of Hastings.

To fill the current $48 million hole, many state agencies will face 2 percent budget cuts, but many key services — including the Nebraska State Patrol, public schools, and centers that care for mentally disabled people — would be spared.

Those cuts will be on top of a 5 percent, across-the-board paring of state-agency budgets next fiscal year that was approved by lawmakers in November during a special session to manage budget problems. They carved $334 million from the current two-year state budget during the session.

The plan to address the $48 million budget deficit also includes tapping a couple of cash funds and taking $3 million from the state’s rainy-day fund.

The state also expects to receive nearly $19 million more federal stimulus dollars than originally expected.

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On the Net:

Nebraska Legislature: www.nebraskalegislature.gov