The Orion Online

Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Online Exclusives

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Oct. 1, 2008

Why is California's budget is the most despised in the nation?

On Sept. 23, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California's state budget, which should have taken place 85 days ago when the fiscal year started.

Although signing the budget a record 85 days late, our Golden State has been late multiple times. In fact, in the past 20 years the state has signed the budget on time on only four occasions.

"It is three months late because both (Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature) stayed in their ideological corners and refused to come out," said Schwarzenegger on the east steps of the State Capitol at a rally to support one of the propositions, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Normally, the signing of the budget is accompanied by celebratory ceremony after, at the Capitol's rotunda. This time, the package was passed with very little fanfare.

Schwarzenegger has also threatened the Legislature to approve a budget soon, or he will use his veto power to uphold 875 bills that he has to sign by Tuesday. If neither signed nor vetoed, these bills will automatically become laws for enactment.

The Legislature's budget plan was intended to close in a 15 billion spending gap. The plan left the state with only $820 million in reserves. The governor used his powers to boost the reserves to more than double: $1.7 billion.

During these times, "You are in danger of very quickly running out of money," he said to justify the step.

Of course, this boost will come through a reduction in spending, since state budget matters are zero sum issues; you increase in an area, you have to decrease in another.

In order to boost the reserves, the governor vetoed $510 million worth of spending. Approximately $190 million of these $510 million came through the elimination of a tax rebate program for the low-income elderly. But what about the rich-income elderly? Is the governor is concerned about maintaining some relationships?

These cuts are directly affecting the public. One sector that has already been targeted by cuts in the Legislature's budget, and once more now with the governor's reduction, is the Health and Human Services Agency. The agency lost about $153 million in the recent cuts, which will severely undermine its efforts. CalWORKS, a public state welfare program that is under the agency, will lose nearly $90 million in these cuts.

"As you know, our economy, not in this state alone, but in the country and worldwide, is at a situation right now where we have to (be?) very, very careful without spending," Schwarzenegger said, in the face of voices opposing the cuts. "And it will be tough on some people, but it's what we need to do."

There were some other programs also affected by the cuts. These programs include one to curb methamphetamine use along with other drugs, one to help address the declining salmon population and other programs from housing and employment departments.

Positively, his finance officials have remarked that the state can even see another $340 million in savings if some cost-saving methods were implemented, such as withholding the hiring of 10,000 state workers.

In the face of the current economic crisis such optimism is needed. Hopefully the price of leaving this crisis won't be at the cost of more severe reductions in public spending.

Amro Jayousi can be reached at
ajayousi@theorion.com

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