Legislators have little choice but to increase state revenues

This from the Daily Independent:

The only option

With the state and national economy in the midst of what many believe to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, conventional wisdom says this is no time to be raising taxes. However, conventional wisdom flies out the window when the alternative to a tax increase is worse.

And that’s just where Kentucky finds itself as legislators prepare for the 2009 General Assembly. With revenue falling a projected $456.1 million short of funding the budget for the current fiscal year — which ends June 30 — Gov. Steve Beshear has made a 70-cent-per-pack increase in the state cigarette tax a key part of his proposal to balance the budget through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. If approved by the General Assembly, the hike would take Kentucky’s cigarette tax to $1 per pack, making it higher than any other bordering state except Ohio.

But the key word here is “if”. Earlier this year, the Kentucky House of Representatives approved a 25-cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax, but the Republicans who control the Senate refused to even bring the tax hike to a vote in that body. Now the governor is seeking a tax increase that it 45 cents a pack higher than what legislators rejected in March. Has the mood in the General Assembly changed that much so quickly? We’ll soon find out...

Not being mind-readers, we have no idea what legislators will do in regards to increasing revenue, but the worst thing they can do it nothing. We suspect legislators — including those in the Senate — will be more willing to increase the tax on cigarettes than they were in March, but it is difficult to imagine that a majority of legislators will endorse the type of increase the governor is proposing.

That’s their option, but if they choose it, they must be willing to either raise taxes elsewhere or make the type of spending cuts that are sure to send college tuition rates soaring, result in larger classrooms, deny medical care to our poorest residents, release more prisoners, and do all sorts of negative things.

No politician enjoys raising taxes, but sometimes there are no other options. This is one of those times.