Richard Thinks Big: Identifies Almost $1M In Budget Cuts

Ron Richard is The Man With A Plan. Before the legislative spring break, The Speaker told reporters he had a "plan" to "reform government top-to-bottom," but was unwilling to release it. Then Monday, House Budget Chairman Allen Icet said that House Republicans weren't even going to try to make the approximately $500M that will be required for next year's budget.

Some (including yours truly) thought this refusal to detail a full plan and reluctance to pass a reasonable budget meant that Richard was full of hooey.

But I was wrong, because Ron Richard does have a plan for cutting the state budget. In fact, his office has identified a whopping $787,000 in proposed cuts for FY11.  AND, Richard found $55,000 in savings for FY10 by eliminating cell phone reimbursements, and unspecified savings in reduced travel and photocopy costs. Impressive stuff! 

Here are the "Spending Cutbacks in the House of Representatives" for FY2011 as released by his office today:

• Sought to fulfill our constitutional restricting responsibilities without additional resources, unlike the Governor’s Office of Administration. ($100,000 – 200,000)
• Worked with the Joint Committee on Legislative Research to eliminate the Legislative Budget Office. ($242,000)
• Worked to forego membership dues in NCSL, ALEC, Counsel of State Governments and so forth. We will likely remain members without paying dues, as that allowance was made in 2003 when we were unable to pay. ($345,000)

It's possible that I'm reading too much into today's announcement, Richard is planning to release his "plan" in piecemeal fashion.  With almost $1M in cuts outlined in today's release, he'll only need 499 more of similar magnitude to get the job done.