Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has been at once panned and praised for his handling of the state’s dwindling budget reserves through creativity, cuts and the occasional lecture. In true Schweitzer form, the governor’s latest proposal is asking his constituents: Do you have any ideas?
Last week, the governor unveiled the “Montana Accountability Partnership Contest,” complete with a prize for the winner. All you have to do is come up with a viable plan to help preserve the $17 million expected to be in the bank when the current two-year budget period ends in 2011. Originally, a legislative analysis pegged that number at close to $300 million, but the recession has quickly eaten up most of that optimistic figure.
While I think the governor soliciting our advice on managing state funds is clever (if, in the end, ineffective), not everyone agrees. Republican Senate President Bob Story stressed that citizen input is always valuable, but those same citizens have elected lawmakers and tasked them with making laws.
“If they (Schweitzer) need help making budget recommendations, then they should call the Legislature to town and have those people that are elected to do that job do it,” Story said.
But don’t expect that to happen for the simple fact that it would cost $80,000 per day to have our lawmakers reconvene. Thus, Schweitzer and his staff are running the show in regard to managing the budget and will continue to do so, even if some members of the governor’s own party feel like they’re being left out of the loop.
When Schweitzer asked state agencies to prepare contingency plans for 5 percent spending reductions, Democratic House Speaker Bob Bergren of Havre said he learned about it in a news release.
“He should consult with somebody,” Bergren said. “The Legislature spends the money by the authority of the Constitution, so I would like to think the governor would honor that by consulting with folks rather than by hitting us with a press release.”
But Schweitzer doesn’t have to. Now that the projected reserves have fallen below $37 million, he can cut almost whatever chooses, and he will (though certain departments, like education, are exempt). And if the alternative is calling back lawmakers to Helena to agree upon a plan, when they could barely hammer out a budget within 90 days, Schweitzer may be our best bet for keeping the books in the black.
So far, the governor’s cuts have been modest – from cancelling building renovations, to posting the state directory online, rather than printing it. While he only canceled raises in his budget office when news outlets criticized him for it, Schweitzer has been widely lauded, whether deserved, for his budget acumen.
The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board said it’s “too bad he’s not running for Congress.” Newt Gingrich – yes, the former Republican House Speaker – has invited the governor to help with the American Solutions for Winning the Future project, saying he likes how the governor handles state finances.
To be sure, Schweitzer has his share of critics who think he’s simply a showman, including Bozeman Mayor Jeff Krauss, who said the governor had “used the media” to attack his city’s plan to use federal stimulus dollars on new tennis courts and implied his charges of waste were disingenuous. And, perhaps, Schweitzer’s latest move to reward a money-saving idea with a $400 palladium coin is a gimmick.
Scanning comments on the state’s news Web sites, suggestions run the gamut, from bringing back smoking in bars to implementing a four-day workweek for all government employees. Neither is likely to happen, and the chance of the governor staving off a worsening budget is slim.
But the move is vintage Schweitzer. Expect more of the same in the coming months.