Passed budget: No cuts this year, but down the road...???

The Special Legislative Session appears, essentially, to be over, with Governor Beshear vetoing a set of budget cuts that the Senate wanted to most of our necessary functions of state government.

So, no budget cuts this year.  But no increased investments, either, during this time of increased need, and after eight damaging rounds of cuts in recent years. And now we have lots of questions left on the table about next year's budget.

The passed budget relies on savings in the state's Medicaid program through more managed care, and on the prospect that state revenue's will increase over the next year.  If either of these don't happen, then what?

The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy has just released a great policy brief about the passed budget, and the questions about Kentucky's future. KCEP asks, even if managed care saves Kentucky money, what are the implications of using it more?  How can the public hold managed care contractors accountable?  Further, how can legislators craft a budget for the *next* two years that finally moves Kentucky forward, when they'll also be dealing with a deficit passed forward from this year? Even if the state makes enough revenue to cover the Medicaid budget, how will we be impacted from a starting line that's been moved back? 

And ultimately, the question that KCEP poses is, "When will state leaders begin to discuss necessary reforms to Kentucky’s tax system?"

Looking down the pipe, seems like a pretty big question.  What do you think it's going to take?