Jul 05 2011
Will California Survive Governor Brown’s Budget?
Governor Jerry Brown signed California’s $86 billion dollar general fund budget on Thursday of last week, into existence; the overall package is $129 Billion dollars. It is an “all-cuts” budget, and the list of casualties is long and comprehensive. Funding for the UC and CSU systems will be reduced by $650 million dollars each, 70 State Parks will be closed, and transportation projects will be postponed. Additionally, Attorney General Kamala Harris and the Department of Justice are facing $71 million dollars in cuts, while Senior Centers and other programs for the elderly are going to be reduced. As a result, the cost of healthcare for the poor will rise, and community colleges are going to face tuition hikes. Even with these draconian cuts, the budget assumes $4 billion dollars in extra revenues. If those revenues don’t materialize, there are provisions in the budget to further cut funding from education and other public services. The previous budget that was submitted by state Democrats was vetoed by Governor Brown on June 16th. Brown justified his veto saying “[t]he budget I have received is not a balanced solution. It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt. It also contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings.” However, Governor Brown has not gotten everything he hoped for – the tax extensions that he was lobbying for were not included in the final budget. On July 1st state sales taxes decreased from 8.25 percent to 7.25 percent and vehicle licensing fees dropped by almost half. Republicans claim the change will put about $1,000 dollars into the pockets of average Californians. Another provision in the bill will effectively increase tax rates on online vendors such as Amazon.com. The budget bill passed without a single Republican vote, made possible by last year’s Proposition 25, which allows the legislature to pass a state budget by a simple majority.
GUEST: Brian Leubitz, Founder and Editor of Calitics.com and political consultant
Read Brian Leubitz’ work at www.calitics.com.
3 Responses to “Will California Survive Governor Brown’s Budget?”
He did the best he could. California will survive. We always have and always will. Plus redistricting is coming…..
There is very little difference between Brown’s budget and previous budgets, because Brown’s budget is master-minded by Big Oil and Wall Street (service debt interest). There is no provision for closing corporate and commercial tax loopholes, no oil extraction tax and no oil corporation, windfall-profits tax. Californians pay the highest price for gasoline in the nation. Brown’s budget is the same, because again, it picks on the most vulnerable.These budget cuts will prolong the recession. These taxes have to be rolled-back.
On the day that Jerry Brown was sworn into office this year, a Republican Governor signed the budget for 16 of the previous 18 years. He inherited this mess. Per the Tax Foundation, the Federal Government spent $0.69 in California for every $1.00 collected in the state. In Alaska the Federal Government spent $1.84 for every $1.00 collected in that state.