Posted on 03/01/2005 2:04:55 PM PST by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he will go over legislators' heads and take his case straight to the voters with a special election later this year on overhauling pensions, teacher pay and the way political districts are drawn.
He said he and supporters will start gathering signatures to place the measures on the ballot. No date has been set for the special election, but it would probably be held in the fall.
Schwarzenegger has been threatening such a move for months. It would pit the popular Republican governor against some of the state's most powerful political forces - including the majority Democratic Party and the teachers union.
During a news conference, Schwarzenegger endorsed three specific initiatives. They would privatize the state's public-employee pension funds, which manage more than $300 billion in investments; give authority for drawing legislative and congressional districts to a panel of retired judges; and tie teacher pay to merit rather than seniority.
"The problems are too big to ignore and too dangerous," Schwarzenegger said.
While Schwarzenegger also wants to create a constitutional requirement that would impose across-the-board spending cuts when revenue falls short, on Tuesday he did not endorse any of the proposed initiatives that are being developed.
In January, he called on the Democratic-controlled Legislature to place the four measures on the ballot before March 1 or face him at the polls. The deadline has passed with no agreement.
Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said Tuesday they are willing to work with Schwarzenegger on the proposals. The problem, they said, was that the administration kept making changes to the plans.
Margita Thompson, Schwarzenegger's press secretary, said the changes were minor.
Schwarzenegger, who was brought to power in a 2003 recall, has called the upcoming election a "great battle" and vowed to raise $50 million to pass his agenda.
Then you are quite simply, wrong.
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is the biggest land grabbing tool ever created in California. Davis vetoed it. Arnold pushed it.
His last two budgets have specifically increased fees, especially by his swiping local government revenue to prop up State spending, forcing them to increase taxes and fees instead of the State doing it. It is simply shifting a tax increase.
The currently proposed budget of $111 billion is 16% larger than the $98.9 billion of 2002-3. Not only had total spending increased under Schwarzenegger, the rate of increase has acclerated over Davis, and with less excuse.
When you increase non-discretionary debt service by 40% as Arnold has, that's a given.
Here's yet another example from today's news of local fee increases caused by State raids on local funds:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2005/03/02/news/californian/23_08_103_1_05.txt
LAKE ELSINORE ---- The local water district's 35,000 ratepayers are in for a surprise with their upcoming water bills. The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District plans to add a $4.13 monthly charge to each customer's bill starting this month to offset the anticipated reduction of $5.2 million in state property taxes over the next two years.
Under the terms of a deal worked out last year between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and local governments on this year's budget, special districts throughout the state ---- including water agencies ---- were asked to give up a combined $350 million portion of their share of property tax revenues over a two-year period to help balance the state budget.
Ratepayers will see the fee increase show up on their monthly water bills starting this month through March 2007.
(snip)
Have you forgotten that Mr. Davis took a surplus and turned it, almost overnight, into a nightmare of a debt? That is far more than 40% increase in debt.
The bulk of that was due to two factors, the crash in capital gains revenue in 2000 (which Davis had nothing to do with) and SB-1777 class-size reduction which was passed but not fully implemented immediately before Davis became governor.
Er, I think that you are forgetting his short sighted buying of energy - which was an absolutely huge mistake.
It was covered by bonds paid for out of your electric bill. It's not a budgetary item. I'm rather familiar with that issue.
Try again.
Oh, one of those notorious off-the-budget items. Still, it is incorrect for you to assert this, since it did add massively to the California debt burden - no matter how that burden was defined.
At least you admit your ignorance, but then you insist on digging yourself in deeper:
Still, it is incorrect for you to assert this, since it did add massively to the California debt burden - no matter how that burden was defined.
The debt service is not part of the State budget. It has NOTHING to do with Arnold's current predicament regarding current budgetary cash flow. The debt due to the power crisis was $12 billion dollars. The total Arnold is incurring, $15 billion in Prop. 58, $3 billion more for that embryonic stem cell boondoggle, and now apparently another $8 billion in new debt AFTER promising to "cut up the credit cards," is a total far larger than what Davis accomplished, even if you attribute the power crisis to him in total (although the shortage was manufactured over many years and thus belongs to Pete Wilson as well). Further, Arnold has less excuse in that he has both failed to use his line-item veto and received his mandate having promised to cut spending.
The rate of growth in spending under Arnold has accelerated.
False again, but I'm not going to bother proving it to you this time because you clearly don't read evidence when it's supplied, sic...
As such, to ignore it, as you are doing is less than, shall we say, perspicacious?
I have done anything but, however, your apparent refusal to read the link I gave you proves that educating you is a waste of time.
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