Posted on 07/01/2006 1:09:57 PM PDT by FairOpinion
The spending plan is the first completed on time in six years. Criticism of his trimming was muted as Democrats got most of what they had sought.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the state's first on-time budget in six years Friday, after using his veto power to scale back the expansion of environmental enforcement and healthcare programs approved by the Legislature earlier this week.
The $131-billion spending plan signed by the governor will use a surge of unanticipated revenue that filled California's coffers this year to pay back billions the state borrowed from schools in recent years as well as to accelerate repayment of other state debt.
The governor used his veto pencil to eliminate more than $175 million in spending that the Legislature had approved. He vetoed tens of millions of dollars from the budget that would have been used to reduce air pollution, expand hospital trauma care, provide interpreters to non-English speakers in civil court cases and make dental care available to more low-income children, among other services.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Dum de dum. Let's see, according to my trusty calculator a $175 million cut from a $131 billion budget comes out to just a little more than a hundredth of one percent.
How heartless.
I think I can understand why the Democrats didn't object too much. No doubt they agreed beforehand to put in a few hundred million extra so Ahnold could cut it without inconveniencing them.
Show me the canceled checks.
No, make that a tenth of one percent. 0.0013.
Not to mention the "healthcare" proposed by the Demoncrats was for the children of illegal immigrants.
Sure, let's keep piling up taxes and debt to pay for Mexicos failures.
Close the border, now.
Tax money helps Schwarzenegger undermine Angelides
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1659032/posts
The $131.4 billion budget Schwarzenegger signed Friday gives an extra $5.1 billion to education next year, which may be enough to bring California close to the national average for education spending, according to an early estimate by the Legislative Analyst's office.
Although it is likely to be temporary, the $7.5 billion tax windfall that enabled the governor's largesse has come just in time for the November election. And it could not be worse news for Angelides, who wants to raise taxes on corporations and the rich to provide more money for education.
http://www.kqed.org/weblog/capitalnotes/2006/06/signed-sealed-and-blue-penciled.jsp
June 30, 2006
Signed, Sealed, And Blue Penciled
(SNIP)
Afterwards, the governor's staff released the list of line-item vetoes. Schwarzenegger rejected 66 different items in General Fund and Special Fund spending, totaling a little more than $112 million.
Some of the interesting vetoes, along with a (hopefully) plain language explanation:
$10 million vetoed from a subsidy to local air quality districts (reason: the money comes from the state's Motor Vehicles Account, where resources need to go to a CHP radio system upgrade and to implement the federal Real ID security act)... $25 million vetoed for reducing emissions from trains, construction equipment, and dairy equipment (reason: same concerns over using money from the Motor Vehicles Account)... $10 million vetoed from local trauma care services (reason: local governments are being given other money that could pay for these needs)... $10 million vetoed for hiring interpreters in civil court cases (reason: the court system agreed to a "stable funding level" that should pay for these needs without extra cash)... $1 million vetoed for university research on obesity and diabetes.
Some of the clean air vetoes are already stirring criticism in Central Valley air quality circles. And while the governor's veto message on those issues blames the action, in part, on too many financial burdens for the state's Motor Vehicles Account (funded through vehicle registration fees, DMV fees, etc.) it should be noted that the same pot of money is where the budget gets $6.5 million for Schwarzenegger's much-talked about Hydrogen Highway Initiative. The governor's advisers say as much as $150 million in air quality initiatives were preserved in the new budget.
Reducing pollution from trains and tractors is enviromentalism silliness and would not have the level of impact a hydrogen economy would have.
While it's nice to see $112 million cut, it would've been nice to see even more axed.
Here on FR, I actually recommended he do that ASAP to take that arrow out of their quiver.
When we get him reelected, we need to return to the reform agenda and breaking the unions' death grip on CA.
The public employee pension death hold may be even tougher to break. The unions, public pensions and illegal alien benefits are the axis of evil here in California.
I think you meant to say: When moderates, independents and soft left Democrats get him reelected.
Many conservatives will not vote for a liberal, regardless of political registration. I won't vote for anyone, running for any domestic, public office, who holds dual citizenship. A political candidate with dual citizenship is akin to a person with a hyphenated last name. They spend life in an extended, identity crisis wrestling with divided loyalties.
Good
"When we get him reelected, we need to return to the reform agenda and breaking the unions' death grip on CA."
===
Absolutely! But we need to reelect him first.
Forward looking? Kinda like Pete Wilson and his Electric Car?
I don't call pure corruption "forward looking." Make-work for a moribund industry for an un-necessary product is a waste of precious capital. The hydrogen highway is a way of using more natural gas which is the payoff to Arnold's backers.
They could do more to reduce pollution by deregulating telecommunications, getting government out of the mass transit business, and getting rid of the Post Office.
Congress has the power to establish Post Offices, so it's doubtful CA could get rid of Post Offices.
$131 billion is 16% higher than the $113 billion total spending authorized in last year's 2005-2006 budget bill.
Comparing only the General Fund expenditures (to exclude expenditures for Special Funds and Bond Funds),
the 2006-2007 General Fund total expenditures of $101.261 billion is a 9.2% increase over
the actual 2005-2006 General fund total expenditures of $92.730 billion.
The 2006-2007 $101 billion general fund is 12% higher than the planned 2005-2006 $90 billion general fund.
The governor used his veto pencil to eliminate more than $175 million
...
The vetoes drew a muted response, however. Most of the program expansions that Democrats had secured in the budget approved by the Legislature Tuesday night remained intact.
Last year he vetoed $190 million in appropriations, including $115 million from the general fund. Gov. Schwarzenegger has never used the line-item veto power significantly. If he had cut more, say 1% instead of 0.1%, would the Democrats suddenly be able to muster the votes necessary to override his veto of just a few of the many Democrat-endorsed program expansions?
Actually, it would require a Constitutional Amendment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.