Gov. Ritter: “A budget is a moral document”

Gov. Bill Ritter on Wednesday briefed the Joint Budget Committee on his final budget proposal. The governor said the time for political rhetoric has passed, and now the Legislature must get on with the business of crafting a budget during lean fiscal times.

“When it comes to budgeting, everything must be on the table, but the posturing, quite frankly, must end,” Ritter said.

He presented the JBC with a $19.1 billion budget that leaves $7.6 billion in the general fund at the discretion of the Legislature in fiscal year 2011-12. It required $714 million in cuts, and withholding funding from $380 million in items that been funded in the past.

Spared from the slashing were higher education and K-12 education. Under Ritter’s proposed budget, higher education would receive $550 million, the same amount the state contributed last year.      – More -