The legislature did not cut the budget by 40% between FY2014 and FY2016.  Total budget went from $7.3B to $5.3B (27%), but almost all of that came from the capital budget (roads, buildings, infrastructure, etc.) and the statewide operating budget, which largely consisted of the postponement of payments under the oil tax credits program, debt service, retirement contributions, etc.  The Agency operating budget, which is where people see the waste and overreach, and is in part discretionary, has barely been touched; being reduced by only $300M, from $4.4B to $4.1B.

It is disingenuous to advocate a position that the state budget has been cut significantly, when in fact, it hasn't.  When the Legislature steps up to the plate and actually looks hard at the at cuts to the agency budgets, that's when I will support a "tax" (be it income, sales, or a reduction in the distributions from the fund, or a reallocation of the proceeds of the fund, as Brad Keithly advocates).