If you’re reading this blog, you are probably aware that the General Assembly is set to meet on May 14 and 15 for a special session to rework the so-called “doomsday budget.” This budget, which actually increases spending, will cut funding for certain key programs by small amounts. The hits that education and public safety will take from this budget are often in the news, but in reality the vast majority of savings will come from other programs that few would consider vital (take a look at the list found here, on page 8).

For instance, one of the “doomsday” cuts that will occur is the elimination of 500 state government positions. Some have claimed this means the state will fire 500 workers. That’s not necessarily true. The state has thousands of positions that are currently unfilled but which the budget funds. Eliminating these unfilled positions will meet that requirement of the “doomsday budget.”

Another “doomsday” cut that will occur is ending the scholarships that delegates and senators hand out. To me this seems like a no-brainer. Why are legislators handing out scholarships in the first place? And, if they want to award them, why are they using our tax money to do so? These are simply a form of political patronage. They are a way for legislators to reward supporters and ensure that they have goodwill in their community. These scholarships are a highly inappropriate use of tax dollars and it should not have taken a “doomsday” budget for them to be eliminated.

Yet another cut in the “doomsday” budget is the elimination of the biotechnology tax credit. This tax credit is simply a form of corporate welfare. It uses our tax dollars to reward a small handful of companies. What’s notable is that this (as well as the stem cell research fund that’s eliminated) is the only corporate welfare cuts in the “doomsday” budget. It certainly says something about our legislators’ priorities that they will trim education funding and eliminate local police grants but preserve welfare to film studios, horse racing, and other giveaways to for-profit corporations.

I’ll be exploring other aspects of the “doomsday” budget for the next week, but this should give you a good idea that there is a lot more to the story than you’ll hear from legislators or the press. Many of the cuts in the “doomsday” budget are common sense budget savings. The governor called legislators back into session so they could raise taxes in order to restore funding for delegate scholarships, keep 500 empty positions in the state budget, and restore corporate welfare tax credits, among other things. Keep that in mind when you hear all the whining about the hardship the “doomsday” budget imposes on the state.