Looks like I picked a good time to get the heck out of dodge:
Gov. Mitch Daniels this morning announced an additional $300 million to $400 million in state spending cuts, including no pay raises for state employees and a moratorium on most state building projects.
Daniels said the cuts are necessary after state revenue projections missed for the fourth straight month. State tax collections in October were $46 million, or 4 percent, short of projections.
I’m not entirely sure how much more Gov. Daniels can cut before his powers as a governor are tapped dry. For now, they’re offering voluntary unpaid leave to state employees, plus an additional 5% cut to spending on top of the 5% whack back in July. Forgoing pay raises for this year will save the state an additional $20 million. The last arrow in his quiver is going to be employee furloughs for weeks at a time.
At least we can still claim, “We’re not California”. As Colbert said earlier this week, “California is so broke they tried burning it down for the insurance money.”