Legislative Budget Planners Urge Caution

HELENA – The Legislature’s chief financial forecaster has a new nickname. Call him “Doctor Doom.”

At least that’s what it says on the T-shirt hanging on the back of Terry Johnson’s desk chair these days. As a fiscal analyst for the Legislative Financial Division, its Johnson’s job to make educated guesses about how much money state government will have to spend in the future.

At the current rate of spending, the money won’t last beyond the next biennium, Johnson told legislators Tuesday. If trends hold, the 2011 Legislature could face some gloomy choices, he added.

Johnson and other analysts suggested legislators ponder what they would do if revenues don’t rebound. Among the questions legislators should consider, they said, is whether to continue funding the most expensive budget items – education, the prison system and health and human service programs – at current levels.

Analysts also suggested lawmakers consider finding money for a “rainy day” fund.

-- Molly Priddy, CNS correspondent