The money will come in handy if the decline in state revenues continues. January tax receipts were below official projections by 7.8 percent; three of the previous six months were also below projections.

Just a couple of months ago, various plans were being bandied about to delve into the cash reserve the state's rainy-day fund for various worthy purposes. ...

At the time, officials thought the state would end the current fiscal year with $540 million in the reserve, the highest amount in state history.

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Board last week lowered its revenue projection for the current year by $51 million and for next year by $75 million.

Now the state is expected to end the year with $489 million in the rainy-day fund.

That's still high by historical standards.

Typically, state officials have been unable to resist the impulse to tap the cash reserve. Usually, they have returned the money to taxpayers with tax cuts or spent it.

Too often, the state has been caught with too little in the cash reserve at the start of an economic slowdown.

The result has been that senators sometimes, after cutting as deeply into spending as they thought practical, ended up also raising taxes, which is counterproductive. During an economic slowdown government tries to stimulate the economy, not burden it. ...

State senators and Gov. Dave Heineman reacted quickly to the forecast by dropping plans for an added $75 million property tax relief package and looking at cuts to the pending $53 million increase in state aid to schools for next year. ...

Heineman, Appropriations Committee Chairman Lavon Heideman and others deserve credit for pushing for a sizable cash reserve. If the trends continue, the cushion will come in handy.

Lincoln Journal Star