Economy

Bryan Calls for 'Expenses Conference' to Uncover True Cost of Running Government

“One of the things that I've always thought we should have is a true estimate of what it costs to run this government,” said Governor Albert Bryan Jr., speaking at the 2025 Spring Revenue Estimating Conference, held Friday. “Revenue conferences are great, right? But I think what we should have is an expenses conference,” the governor declared, saying that a true picture of government expenditure is not being painted. “Every year we discount the retro pay that we owe,” he noted. “We discount the underfunded waste management costs. We discount the underfunded hospitals costs,” Governor Bryan continued. “We have a rising matching priority in terms of the Medicaid that we get….we're running out of the money faster. We're giving more services. We discount the cost of VITRAN – the real cost, we kind of like sweep it under the rug.” The governor also pointed to the millions in overtime paid to officers of the VIPD – “it can be controlled, but it will never be eliminated,” he noted. “We real...