Chafee Takes on Budget Deficit in Special Summit
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee and other state leaders got an in-depth look into the reasons behind the persistent state budget deficit and explored possible solutions in a special summit held yesterday.
The summit revealed that the latest estimate for the 2012 deficit is $295 million, according to Mike Trainor, a spokesman for Chafee. He said $240 million of that deficit is due to high costs in state health and human services.
An estimated 250 attendees—who included leaders in education, labor, and state government—sat through an exhaustive presentation on the budget from Rosemary Booth Gallogly, current Director of the Department of Administration, and the State Budget Officer, Thomas A. Mullaney.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThat was followed by two panel discussions moderated by the incoming Director of Administration, Richard Licht. Each panelist outlined possible ways to make state government more efficient or find new sources of revenue.
‘No stellar, magic-bullet solution’
Ultimately, the summit did not end with one ultimate solution to the problem. “There was no stellar, magic-bullet solution,” Trainor told GoLocalProv.
Instead, he said Chafee closed the summit, which was held at Rhode Island College, by warning that everyone would have to take some “cod live oil” to help the state deal with the deficit.
“He found it very informative,” Trainor said. “He came away with a much better appreciation of the size and scope of the budget deficit. He’s optimistic that Rhode Island can and will deal with this.”
Trainor said he was not aware of a similar summit being held by any previous Governor-elect and he said Chafee announced at the end of the event that he was open to holding similar summits on other issues.
Following the summit, Trainor said Chafee’s transition team is now focused on drafting his proposed budget for 2012, which is due to the General Assembly next February.
Related Articles
- BREAKING NEWS: Chafee Wants to Keep DOT Director
- BREAKING: Chafee Eyes Fogarty for Cabinet
- BREAKING NEWS: Chafee Offers Costantino Top Post
- BREAKING NEWS: Chafee Appoints Fogarty as Head of Labor & Training
