Combs raises revenue estimate

Looks like Sen. Ogden and his fellow dreamers got their wish.

Comptroller Susan Combs added $1.2 billion to her estimate of state revenues, making that much more money available to budget writers who are scrambling for cash. She said the state’s income from sales taxes, motor vehicle sales taxes and oil production are all up, and that those numbers justified the increase in the amount available to spend during the 2012-13 budget.

That’s not enough money to settle the differences between the House and Senate — their budgets differed by $4 billion in education alone — but it’ll help. The House is scheduled to consider a package of finance bills on Wednesday; the outcome of that debate will determine whether the legislators writing the budget can finish their job this week, or whether the budget will have to be written in a special session this summer.

There’s still a big gap between the House and Senate budgets, and the final product is still going to suck. But every little bit helps, I guess. On a tangentially related note, see Nate Blakeslee.

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