rocklogo_smaller

The NDP Government put out their first budget for the Province yesterday… and there are a few things you may need to know.

The new budget plans keeps core spending in health and education intact and pledges 34 billion dollars for infrastructure spending. That’s a lot of debt, but a lot of action.

The Calgary Herald also put out a list of 10 things about the budget we need to know. Those are listed below.

The new budget will have the largest deficit in history, at $6.1 billion for the 2015-16 budget year. The NDP government proposes to run smaller deficits over the next four years, and reaching a $1 billion surplus by 2019-20.

· Starting at midnight, Oct. 28, there will be a $5-per-carton increase to cigarettes and a five per cent increase to liquor overall. There will also be a four per cent increase to the locomotive fuel tax.

· The introduction of a new Fiscal Planning and Transparency Act will limit the Alberta government to a borrowing capacity of 15 per cent of the GDP. The province’s total liabilities and borrowing will hit $18.9 billion this year.

· A Job Creation Incentive will provide eligible employers grants of $5,000 for each new job created.

· There will be a 15 per cent increase to the capital spending plan for infrastructure to help repair roads, schools and hospitals.

· $830 million over the next five years will go to the design and replacement of the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary.

· Health care spending will rise two per cent – or $420 million – to $19.7 billion in this fiscal year.

· Family and Community Support Services, known as FCSS, will see an increase of $25 million.

· $43 million will be going to the Calgary Board of Education this year, and $21 million is headed for the Calgary Catholic School District. There will be an increase of about 105 new teachers and 78 new support staff hired in Calgary schools.

· All cabinet minsters, MLAs and political staff will be under a salary freeze for the entire term of this legislature.