CONCORD--Recently, members of the House's conservative Republican Alliance

decided to back a two-year budget with an average increase of 3% a year. "A

reasonable alternative to the Governor's proposed increase of 13.3%,"

according to Representative Robert Boyce, who is also a member of the House

Finance Committee.

    The increase includes some additional costs associated with the state

prison and a normal allowance for "cost-of-living", according to Boyce. A 3%

increase translates to an approximate $55-60 million increase in spending

each year, which is less than the projected revenue increase but above the

current inflation rate.

    The Governor, in her proposed budget, seeks to increase spending at nearly

three times inflation and 50% faster than revenues coming in. "No wonder

she is looking for new taxes," Boyce said, "...and this in time of robust

economic growth!" He wondered what would happen in an economic downturn and

speculated the result would likely be cutting of necessary services or

institution of another broad-based tax, like an income tax.

    He added that the recently passed school funding bill, currently estimated

to be under-funded by approximately 100 million, points to the need for

restraining growth at this time.

    He also called for accountability from several departments, like Health &

Human Services, which underwent massive computerization in the last few

years. He noted that, in the private sector, such an effort would typically

result in a 10-15% decrease in payroll. However, in this case, he said,

there have been no productivity gains. Something he finds unacceptable

given that the state's "rainy day fund" was "cleaned-out " in order to cover the

project.