Teetering budget could crash without new revenue

In his column today, Larry Dale Keeling of the Herald-Leader discusses Kentucky's dire need of new revenue:

As Gov. Steve Beshear toured the state in recent weeks, he continued to tout his proposals to raise the cigarette tax 70 cents a pack and to let voters decide whether Kentucky needs casino gambling and the hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue that would come with it.

He has plenty of reason to keep making that pitch. The two-year budget that went into effect July 1 underfunds a variety of critical services and is shakily balanced at best.

...If the wads of chewing gum holding this budget together do start to come unglued in the next few months, or if the impact of the deep cuts in services prove so painful that even the Republican-controlled Senate recognizes the need for more revenue (yeah, I know, that's unlikely), a special legislative session after the November election might be the most practical way to deal with the cigarette tax issue.