After watching the Legislature play the "Grinch that Stole the Balanced Budget" earlier this week it was encouraging to open an early Christmas present offered by the Governor today.  At a press conference this morning in Olympia Governor Gregoire unveiled several reform initiatives.

Since the current situation did not provide enough urgency for lawmakers to enact meaningful and sustainable changes to state spending, the Governor should provide extra incentive by issuing an executive order with date-certain across-the-board cuts absent legislative action to help ensure this problem does not drag out till the last possible moment for action.

Gov. Jerry Brown's Executive Order B-13-11 name-drops several reforms that could help implement this understanding, such as zero-based budgeting and performance measure implementation. But in sum, it seems like a way of treating separate symptoms instead of an overarching infection. In this way, it complements the sentiments expressed in Brown's performance-based budget veto message.

Some critics also rightfully wonder why Minnesota is contracting private consultants, when the Minneapolis Internal Audit Department (IAD), created in 2009, provides this very function for Minnesota's largest city. An internal auditing watchdog, the IAD evaluates the integrity of financial records and reports, evaluates city departments for risks of fraud, and maximizes efficiency. Yet as the state hires twenty-two outside consultants, the Minneapolis City Council is considering cutting the IAD in half to generate $130,000 in savings.

One problem with covering deficits by singling out the rich for tax increases is that there are not enough of them.

The Washington  Governor should have enhanced budget cutting authority, but the Legislature for the most part could avoid this authority from ever being utilized by adopting sustainable budgets and providing a meaningful reserve fund to help the state weather all but the most extreme economic downturns.

Brady Deaton, Chancellor of the University of Missouri, said diminishing state funding for the University of Missouri attributed to its decision to move from the Big 12 Conference to the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

If Washington state lawmakers aren't going to balance the budget before going home for the holidays they should at least provide the Governor with discretionary budget cutting authority so she can start to make immediate surgical reductions.

Unable to extend higher taxes in the 2011 legislative session, California Governor Jerry Brown is set to propose two new tax hiking measures for the November, 2012 ballot. The increases include both an extra half-cent on the sales tax as well as the income tax for individuals making over $250,000.