Arkansas: Good Words from Governor Huckabee

Arkansas has a surplus.
Their fiscal year ended June 30, and they have $113 million in revenues left over.

Of course, with school finance litigation still hanging over lawmakers' heads, and fundamental questions unanswered about whether the state is currently spending enough on K-12 education to satisfy the state constitution's guarantees of an adequate education, you would think responsible lawmakers would immediately put the brakes on any talk of giving that $113 million back to taxpayers.

And damned if that isn't exactly what Governor Mike Huckabee is doing.... more or less.
From Wednesday's Associated Press:

But the governor urged against rushing to decide how the surplus should be spent. "Spending is the last and least option. What we need to be doing is setting aside (for a) rainy day. And if there's more than we even need for that, then tax reduction would be certainly appropriate," Huckabee said. "But we'd have to have a special session for that, and I wouldn't risk a special session to cut taxes, knowing that (legislators) might decide to spend it rather than give it back."

Well, I was with him for a while there. The rainy day idea is exactly right. Thing is, all this school funding litigation is pretty much a sign that the rainy day has already arrived.