Posted on 05/21/2009 4:12:03 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he and lawmakers will try to quickly solve the state's $21.3 billion deficit without taxes, gimmicks or much borrowing.
The Republican governor told reporters after a prayer breakfast in the capital that voters sent state leaders a clear message during Tuesday's special election: Live within your means.
Schwarzenegger said he took that as a sign voters want more cuts to state programs. He also has proposed selling state assets such as San Quentin State Prison, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and CalExpo, the state fairgrounds in Sacramento.
"All of us have to do the same what ordinary people do out there," Schwarzenegger told reporters, referring to the effects of the global recession. "The reality is the world out there is one-third less in value. And so as soon as everyone can adjust to that, I think everyone is going to be fine."
Schwarzenegger met with legislative leaders for the first time Wednesday to hear their thoughts about his latest budget proposal, which includes a mix of cuts and borrowing.
He said the recession has hit California's economy so hard that the level of state revenue today is the same as it was a decade ago.
Voters this week resoundingly rejected a slate of measures that included higher taxes, funding shifts and borrowing against the assumed value of future state lottery revenues. Two-thirds of those who cast ballots rejected each of the five budget-related measures. "I think the voters were loud and clear. They said, 'Don't come to us, and solve the problem yourself,"' Schwarzenegger said.
The governor and lawmakers placed the measures on the ballot in February as part of a deal to close a $42 billion budget deficit through June 2010. That deal included $15 billion in spending cuts, $11 billion in borrowing and more than $12 billion in temporary increases to the sales, income and vehicle taxes. But falling tax revenue and overly optimistic projections about how much money the tax increases would generate caused the state to fall back into a deficit within weeks.
Even if voters had approved the measures on Tuesday's ballot, Schwarzenegger and lawmakers would have faced a $15.4 billion deficit in the fiscal year that begins in July. The gap is now $6 billion larger, according to projections by the governor's office.
On Thursday, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said continuing weakness in the economy could deflate tax revenue even further, pushing the total deficit to $24 billion in the coming fiscal year.
Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor endorsed the governor's proposals, released last week, to sell state assets, reorganize government boards and change retiree health benefits for future state employees.
Taylor recommended cutting state employee salaries by another 4.6 percent for some immediate savings. Schwarzenegger has ordered the state to reduce general fund payroll by 10 percent. Taylor's report warned that the governor's proposal relies too heavily on one-time solutions, such as borrowing from local governments and using federal stimulus money. Rather than take out IOUs to get through the year as Schwarzenegger has proposed, the legislative analyst recommended borrowing from funds dedicated to transportation projects. "The state cannot continue current levels of service in all state programs," the report stated.
Voters approved just one ballot measure in Tuesday's election, Proposition 1F, which will prohibit lawmakers from receiving pay raises during deficit years. It was placed on the ballot to meet a demand by Republican state Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria, who made it a condition for securing his vote for the February budget deal.
Maldonado has said he would like to run for statewide office in 2010.
On Wednesday, the citizen commission that determines the pay for lawmakers and other state elected officials cut those salaries by 18 percent, although the action will have no immediate effect. The salary reductions will take place between December 2010 and the end of 2012, meaning lawmakers and officeholders will finish their terms without ever seeing a smaller paycheck.
Might I suggest a rabbit, a hat and a scantily clad dancing girl.
The solution is right there in front of the steroid brain-fried Governor - GET RID OF THE ILLEGALS!! SELL OFF-SHORE OIL AND GAS PERMITS! GET RID OF THE BUREAUCRATS!
My letter to the Sac Bee:
Dear Bee:
Here's what now:
1. Eliminate all services to illegals except any emergency care needed to get them back to their country.
2. Privatize 2 prisons. Rinse, repeat.
3. Cut pay for all state employees making over 3,000 a month.
4. Reduce or eliminate the state capital gain tax.
5. Reduce the state income tax by 2%.
6. Reduce administrative positions in school districts.
7. Build 20 nuclear power plants in the next 20 years.
8. Eliminate legislative staff positions like the elevator operators in the capitol building.
9. Cut state and local pensions back to the level of 1998.
10. Prohibit public employee unions from contributing to those with whom they negotiate their contracts and who approve their contracts.
11. Cal spends 9,000 a year per school student. I propose we give vouchers in ten school districts for $7,000 per student. A classroom of 25 would cost $175,000 instead of $225,000. They could easily pay the teacher half of that and use the rest for admin, equipment, supplies etc.
There are 6.3 million students in Cal. If you do the entire system, you save $12 bill a year and introduce competition into the education system.
12. More oil exploration and drilling.
NEXT!
Can we sell San Francisco?
Schwarzenegger to voters: “Quack!”
Yes, Arnie they "sent that clear message" in the special election SIX YEARS AGO when they ousted Gray Davis. The fact you've failed to uphold your end of the deal for the last six years is why you are a failed Governor and the history books will not be kind to you.
Not gonna get much for a 3 dollar bill.
“Cal spends 9,000 a year per school student. I propose we give vouchers in ten school districts for $7,000 per student. A classroom of 25 would cost $175,000 instead of $225,000. They could easily pay the teacher half of that and use the rest for admin, equipment, supplies etc.”
You’d have to adjust the vouchers for cost-of-living differences across cities, but the general idea is excellent! Private schools—especially church-run schools—have demonstrated their ability to deliver better results at a lower per student cost. The advantage of “voucherizing” education dollars is that it empowers parents to find the best deal for the money (and maybe even bank something for college if they can find something for less than the voucher amount). You get up-front savings from cutting the average cost per student, but instead of bureaucratic whining and media coverage about the adverse effects of budget cuts on quality, you get a vibrant market response with parents single-mindedly focused on getting the best value for the money for their children.
Of course, the only political problem is the teachers unions, which would go to the mat to avert this outcome. Even The Governator seems incapable of standing up to the unions, so the only way to pull this off would be to put it on a ballot measure and then let the unions pound sand once it passes.
Sell tax breaks. Pay 500% of your current property tax bill this year in order to exempt your real-estate from all future property taxes, forever.
I'd be more than happy to strike out gov't programs and over-regulation and veto overspending, since you are so unwilling to do it yourself, Arnold.
Freaking moron!
Either we will solve the problem or not. I’m personally very comfortable. I have provided ideas and consultations for free many times. However, I have never begged or pleaded with anyone to let me help them.
Whoa, there Bub....Way too sensible for the ordinary weight-lifter and other public speakers to comprehend.
Maldonado has said he would like to run for statewide office in 2010.
California should have such a fortunate mariage. A city state that had its hinterlands taken a century ago and forbidden to rejoin its nation. Yet it prospers anyway.
Sorry but Mexico is the likely groom
Wonderful idea!! Perhaps the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals can go too.
I suggest resignation. Arnold has already demonstrated that he can’t fix it.
Golly, I know he’s desperate. But I hope Arnie doesn’t “Go Hollywood”-—and pimp Maria out——just to make a few bucks. Heck, must be a lot of johns out there who’d pay big bucks for a roll in the hay with a Kennedy.
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