State finance director weighs in on $1B in budget cuts

Last week, Gov. Josh Green announced $1 billion in budget cuts for the coming fiscal years.

Luis Salaveria, Budget and Finance director, said he and his colleagues are “very cautious but optimistic” about the future.

The pandemic has taken its toll on the state. Salaveria said that major hits to the tourism industry and the global economy have significantly impacted revenue collection.

“When those types of things happen, it really is kind of the all hands on deck situation,” he said.

Although the budget cuts were challenging, Salaveria wants the public to know that it was part of the government’s constitutional duties.

“What had happened is, the budget was out of balance, [and] we were in deficit. And the governor had to come in and make those line item vetoes,” he explained.

Many criticized the funding reductions and vetoes, including the amount of money allocated for the Department of Education.

Salaveria hopes that, since the department received less funding than it anticipated, the governor will use his discretionary authority to provide support and additional resources.

He also said that projects that were axed this year can still be revived down the line.

“Why not go ahead and make the reductions this year, come in next year with a much more clear view of the state’s finances, and then we can actually take a look at these projects and let them go through their due course,” he said.

In the meantime, Salaveria urges people to remain both positive and wary about the state budget moving forward.

“Coming out of the pandemic, it really taught us that, you know, revenues really can disappear, basically in a heartbeat,” he said.

In the future, he wants to see more resilience in the state’s operations, such as movements away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.

This interview aired on The Conversation on June 20, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.