Issue Position: Accountability to Taxpayers

Issue Position

Every taxpayer deserves to know how tax dollars are being spent. I am a strong advocate for measures that increase transparency in state spending including easy-to-read reports by state agencies with clearly stated goals and performance indicators.

We must do everything we can to protect vital services--education, health care, and public safety--in tough economic times. During the last legislative session, we created a State Revenue Stabilization Fund, a forced savings account for our state. I also support the creation of a "rainy day fund" specifically for education.

We always have a balanced budget in our state, and when there are shortfalls, the legislature must meet to get the budget back into balance. Over the past 14 months, we have cut more than a billion dollars in state spending. Our next legislature will be required to make tough decisions as our budget shortfall is expected to be $3 billion---almost half of our current budget.

It is critical that we continue to look for budget savings and ways to cut costs. I voted for legislation limiting the use of expensive outside consultants, and we will again be looking at ways to cut these costs even further. We must also look at other ways to make our government work more efficiently by consolidating services to avoid costly duplication where possible and improving our collection of unpaid taxes.

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