Gov. Pete Ricketts
Gov. Pete Ricketts says the legislature should leave his budget cuts alone.
Legislators today consider a proposal from the Appropriations Committee to override the governor and restore $32.7 million of the $56.5 million Ricketts vetoed from the $8.9 billion biennium state budget.
“I encourage the full legislature to sustain my vetoes,” Ricketts tells reporters.
Ricketts cited declining state tax revenues to justify using his line-item budget veto authority to carve out $56.5 million from the budget approved by the legislature. Ricketts says his cuts would allow the legislature to restore the 3% minimum budget reserve and restore money taken from the roads fund, both used by the Unicameral to avoid making deeper budget cuts.
The governor’s action cut another half a percent from a number of state agency budgets as well as the budgets of the University of Nebraska, state colleges, and community colleges.
Ricketts says the state budget must balance.
“The proposal I put forward is a thoughtful and, really, moderate approach to how we get there and so I encourage the full legislature to sustain my vetoes.”
AUDIO: Gov. Pete Ricketts defends his budget cuts. [1 min.]