Posted on 01/29/2006 11:14:03 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called his first budget proposal in 2004 a "workout plan" for state government. He recommended slimming the state payroll by about 300 jobs. He wanted to cap enrollment in health programs for children. He suggested cutting the state's contribution to employee pensions.
Schwarzenegger said the state couldn't solve its financial problems without reining in health and social services that were growing far faster than state revenues. Later that year, he commissioned the California Performance Review, which listed dozens of ways state operations could become cheaper and more efficient.
But three weeks ago, when he released his $125.6 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1, Schwarzenegger included few proposals for changing the way the state does business. He recommended adding about 4,700 new state workers to the payroll. He included new funds for expanding enrollment in health programs for children. He didn't suggest any changes to the pension system for state workers, which has spiraling costs.
Though the economy is improving, his plan would still cost $6.4 billion more than the state takes in next year - leading some Republicans, conservative thinkers and even some Democrats to call it flabby.
"You've certainly seen a change of language in the governor's budget," said George Passantino, a former director of the California Performance Review and a senior fellow at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. "The first budget that he unveiled ... there was talk about fundamental reforms. There was talk about allowing the state to contract out more services. ... Many folks are asking what happened to that. Has it just been thrown out the window?"
To be sure, many of the governor's early cost-saving proposals were dealt away in budget negotiations or rejected by the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
If ya can't lick 'em, join 'em.
It doesn't take a whole lot of analysis to know that $125 Billion is "hefty"!
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