Posted on 05/21/2009 6:39:38 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - Not that Gov. Schwarzenegger and state legislators needed any more bad news, but the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office Thursday said the state's budget deficit looks to be more than $24 billion.
The governor's Department of Finance just last week had pegged the shortfall at $21.3 billion if a package of budget-related ballot measures went down in Tuesday's election, which they did. The analyst said it calculations indicate the number may be $3 billion higher.
In unusually frank language, the analyst also sounded an alarm over a major element of the governor's plan to rebalance the state's budget.
A proposal to cover $5.5 billion of the shortfall with short-term borrowing through what's known as revenue anticipation warrants, or RAWs, "would be a terrible precedent ... poor fiscal policy" and potentially illegal, the analyst said.
"If used now and in the future to address annual deficits, RAWs would render meaningless constitutional restrictions on state debt obligations and requirements for a balanced budget," the analyst wrote.
The governor already was reconsidering that part of his revised budget. At an impromptu sidewalk news conference Thursday morning, he said that after voter rejection of three propositions that would have authorized other forms of borrowing, he would "revisit" his proposals to issue revenue anticipation warrants and borrow $2 billion from local governments.
He later issued a statement saying he has asked his finance team "to bring me additional options to cut state spending so that we can eliminate the need to seek borrowing in the form of a revenue anticipation warrant."
Let California deal with it.
Other states do NOT want their bill.
LMBO!!!
They have meaning NOW??
This reminds me of a commercial (for something, can’t remember what) I heard the other day.
First person: I’ve got some good news and some bad news.
Second person: Give me the bad news first.
First person: (Says whatever the really bad news was)
Second person: So, what’s the good news?
First person: That there’s no more bad news!
>>> Other states do NOT want their bill.
Agreed. A few years ago, I remembered some Californian politician saying that California contributes SO much to the national economy that it deserves a payback — that it was a wise investments. Now, I think that argument is false.
Not all of California is bad. But enough of the people are, and most of the politicians are corrupt and don’t put the State first. Perhaps the best medicine is to have the as many Californians understand just how bloated their government has become by letting State Services fail.
Harsh medicine. But if you have enough honest tax payers revolt against the politicians who keep passing measures in favor of the illegal aliens, it might actually make a difference.
Look, here’s the thing: the state is so corrupt, that it’s virtually impossible to find out exactly where our money is being spent. It would be great if some of the good Republicans in the state Senate and Assembly (yes they do exist) came forward with a “bottom up” plan ie, focus not on what to cut, but on what to keep. Basically, cut the unions off at the knees.
It won’t mean anything in terms of policy (the ‘Rats are going to get their state constitutional convention to repeal prop 13 and the 2/3 majority requirment for budget approval), but at least we would find out at long last that those of us paying the bills would not miss for a moment most of the ‘services’ being cut.
My priorities? Provide for public order (law enforcment, fire, functioning courts, and a state prison system unburdened by Federal responsibilities — ie, foreign nationals), and if annything is left over, let’s fill in the potholes in state highways. And even that could be done cheaper and better by private contractors.
So, I’m down to the CHP, the State Supreme court, Superior Courts, and Caltrans. Everything else is gravy.
The counties and cities can take care of primary and secondary schools, their own roads, fire, police, whatever else their citizens are willing to pay for.
OK, so I can dream...
i recently bought a house in palmdale for 54k
It previously sold for 260.
Everyone on my block applied for a property reassessment.
I do not believe the bureaucrats have any idea how much revenue is dropping.
No matter how much they think the deficit is- it is higher.
the newspapers act as if it were a crime that government employees need to be laid off.
meanwhile, many non-government people have lost their jobs.
>>> So, I’m down to the CHP, the State Supreme court, Superior Courts, and Caltrans. Everything else is gravy.
Agreed. Sadly, the Court System IS the cause of a lot of this mess, overturning Referendum after Referendum — particularly the 9th Circuit.
Any chance that court could SPECIFICALLY be cut out of the STATE budget? The 9th Circuit is almost an ENEMY of the state and California voter...
Ummm...while I would be “down” for that as the youngsters say, the 9th circus is a Federal court, funded by the Feds., not the state. So it’s hard to cut funding that doesn’t exist....
A Revenue Anticipation Warrant is no different than the corner Cash Advance America store. And the customer is no different, either.
Next thing you know California will be pawning the silverware and wedding ring. Like addicts usually do before they hit bottom.
Meanwhile, the Capitol keeps on pretending that big serape-covered elephant in the corner isn’t really there.
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.