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Mythical "Massive" Budget Cuts
California department of Finance ^ | 01-09-04 | Arnold Schwarzenegger

Posted on 01/09/2004 4:57:48 PM PST by Amerigomag

I've been listening all afternoon to the media about the "massive" spending cuts proposed by our new governor. Well here are the numbers compared to the budget proposed just one year ago.

Total Spending -- increased 2.8%

Education K-12 -- decreased 1.8%

Health and Human Services -- increased 5%

Higher Education -- increased 6.7%

Business, Transportation and Housing -- increased 0.7%

Courts -- increased 2.2%

Tax Relief (principally the VLF) -- increased 293%

Local Government Subventions -- decreased 9.6%

Youth and adult Corrections -- increased 1.5%

Resources -- decreased 51%

Enviornmental Protection -- decreased 20%

State and Consumer Services -- increased 4.5%

Other -- decreased 29%


TOPICS: US: California
KEYWORDS: arnoldlegacy; calbudget2004; calgov2002; californiabudget; myth
The budget passed in 2003 was actually about 4% larger than Davis proposed but the comparison to the two proposals is startling in light of the claims being trumpted by the media this afternoon.
1 posted on 01/09/2004 4:57:48 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: All

2 posted on 01/09/2004 4:59:31 PM PST by Support Free Republic (Happy New Year)
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To: Amerigomag
Sharpen that blue pencil, Governor!
3 posted on 01/09/2004 5:00:54 PM PST by heleny (No on propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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To: Amerigomag
Total Spending -- increased 2.8%

On another thread, the proposed 2004-05 budget is $99.1 Billion, or about the same as what passed last year ($98.9 Billion according to a summary on the LAO's page) after the Democrats tacked on a few billion to Davis' proposal. That would only be a 0.2% increase.

4 posted on 01/09/2004 5:04:40 PM PST by heleny (No on propositions 55, 56, 57, 58)
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To: Amerigomag
The "CUTS" cry is all to common.

While not a voter I pay taxes in Oregon (live in Washington)
and I heard this all day and night while the tax increase was debated.

They are not CUTS in the sense being projected, they are cuts in huge increases. Increases that exceed inflation and population growth numbers. Yet they bellow at the top of their lungs that we are cutting budgets to the bone.

I particularly like the statements from schools and jails - "We will have to lay off teachers and cut school days", "We will have to let prisoners out".

All the while up to 25% of school budgets are non classroom teachers and administrators and the State spends monies on cultural awareness programs instead of keeping Johnny Wife Beater in jail.

5 posted on 01/09/2004 5:07:00 PM PST by CyberCowboy777 (Soon there'll come a day, when your face to face with me. A freedom fighter, no remorse.)
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To: heleny
That would only be a 0.2% increase.

Yup, that qualifies as a "massive" decrease in spending all right!

6 posted on 01/09/2004 5:09:27 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag
Thanks for posting this.

I was looking at the $99+ billion dollars budget proposal and wondering where we had seen that figure or anything approaching it before. Deja puuu :-\

WE'll see what ends up rolling out on the showroom floor after all the re-engineering is done..

I hope they have some money budgeted for air in the tires on this "lean mean" budgetmobile.

7 posted on 01/09/2004 5:37:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi Mac ....... Become a Monthly at FR....... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: NormsRevenge
If Schwarzenegger lowballed in anticipation of not getting all he wants, then this budget is less of a substantive set of cuts than it appears to be.
8 posted on 01/09/2004 5:55:33 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The environment is too complex and too important to manage by politics.)
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To: NormsRevenge
First, you're welcome.

What bothers me is that normally you expect to get less than you ask for during a negotiation.

Since Schwarzenegger is proposing more spending than in previous years, I'm sure the legislature will oblige him and then some. California is obviously headed for the largest budget in it's history if the bond passes. A budget that will be more than 20% out of structural balance.

I suspect the "he's a fiscal conservative" gang will slide into silence over the next few months.

I'm also beginning to believe that the "let it go broke" gang may be pointed in a sound fiscal direction with regard California's immediate, legislative problems. It won't "go broke" but the legislature will be forced to curtail it's spending.

9 posted on 01/09/2004 5:56:59 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag
What are, RECOURCES, ENVIROMENTAL PROTECTION, LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUBVENTIONS? What percent of the total budget does each account for?
10 posted on 01/09/2004 5:58:51 PM PST by BIGZ
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To: BIGZ
Ok, give me a minute. I've download the PDF doc and I'll get back to you with the details.
11 posted on 01/09/2004 6:05:16 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: BIGZ
Resources -- natural resources -- parks, water, fish and game, etc. -- $2.749B or 2.8% of proposed expenditures

Enviornmental Protection -- Cal EPA, Air Resources Board, Water Resources Control Board, etc. -- $0.846B or 0.8%

Local Government Subventions -- local government's share of the property taxes including the VLF -- $2.571B or 2.6%

All three budget subdivisions add up to 6.2% of proposed expenditures.

12 posted on 01/09/2004 6:27:03 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag
The Democrats will add more spending and tax hikes to this budget before the summer. So the budget cuts will vanish into thin air...
13 posted on 01/09/2004 6:29:13 PM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: Amerigomag
It's a real mess. The only answer is to make the cuts that can be made and to raise taxes. In the current environment, it is politically difficult to raise current taxes, so instead we're going to raise future taxes through bonds.

There just aren't any magical answers. ;-)

14 posted on 01/09/2004 6:39:08 PM PST by Scenic Sounds (Sí, estamos libres sonreír otra vez - ahora y siempre.)
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To: goldstategop
The Democrats will add more spending and tax hikes to this budget before the summer. So the budget cuts will vanish into thin air...

All predictions rest with the fate of Prop 56, 57 and 58. This forum may be real entertainment after the March primary.

Our next scheduled fun period will be after the deadline Schwarzenegger imposed on the legislature for state comp reform legisltaion

15 posted on 01/09/2004 6:45:01 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Scenic Sounds
There just aren't any magical answers. ;-)

Not at the state level anyway. Either everyone's ox gets gored or we wait patiently hoping California's GDP will out pace the drain from the consequences of unregulated immigration.

16 posted on 01/09/2004 6:51:19 PM PST by Amerigomag
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To: Amerigomag
Not at the state level anyway.

Well, we're doing exactly the same thing at the Federal level. We're raising future taxes through debt so that we can have lower taxes now.

In fact, if you take California's deficit and multiply it by ten (California has about ten percent of the United States' population), California's budget problems compare pretty favorably with the current budget problem at the federal level. ;-)

17 posted on 01/09/2004 6:57:33 PM PST by Scenic Sounds (Sí, estamos libres sonreír otra vez - ahora y siempre.)
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To: Scenic Sounds
Exactly .... except California can't print money.
18 posted on 01/09/2004 7:09:56 PM PST by Amerigomag
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