New budget deal: Winners and losers

So who won, who lost, and where'd they find a spare quarter-billion dollars? Here's a quick overview.

Posted 4:19 p.m. May 31, 2011 — Updated 10:54 p.m. May 31, 2011

Laura Leslie

After a little quality time with the new budget plan and a calculator, here's what differences I've found between the new Senate plan and the last Senate plan:

Education: The new plan bumps it up a little over $250 million. The vast majority of the increase goes to K-12, with $14 million or so added for the university system, and a couple million more for the community colleges. The $390 million cut to teachers assistants is gone, but schools will have to pick up an extra $120 million in flex cuts.

Health and Human Services: The new deal adds $61 million. Half of that goes to Medical Assistance (Medicaid). Mental health picks up an extra $18 or so million, with other small gains for public health, social services, adult/aging services, and central management.

Justice and Public Safety: Gains $7 M overall. The SBI does not move out of Justice. State Capitol Police are still cut.

Natural and Economic Resources: Loses $12 M overall. Within the area, Commerce and Biotech picked up a few million each. Rural Development and the Dept. of Agriculture lost some funding.

General Government: Gains $3 M. Most of that goes to Cultural Resources. No consolidation of the state elections board with the ethics commission and lobbying regulation.

Debt and Reserves: Loses $58 million from pension and retirement contributions.

Bottom line (unappropriated money) is now $14 million, down from $72 million.

Where's the money?

As I posted earlier, the new budget deal's pricetag comes in at $19.68 billion - that's about $251 more than the last proposal.

The quarter-cent personal income tax cut went away - that's $55 M.

Less unapporpriated money left on the bottom line - that's $58 M.

They're suspending the corporate tax earmark for school construction - another $72 M back in the general fund

And they're putting about $96 million less into the bank - $18 million less to Savings Reserve, $78 million less to Repairs and Renovations.

That adds up to $281 million, which covers the added spending plus a few other money changes, including reinstating the tax deduction for severance wages ($16 M).

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