The state budget mess

Here's the reason Californians don't trust Sacramento: In July 2003, the state controller's office figured there were 230,000 state employees. Since then, every budget deal has featured legislators' howling protestations that they've been forced to make horrific budget cuts, yet the controller now estimates the state has 244,000 employees.

While state businesses have been forced to lay off good people, state government kept growing. Even now, Sacto's focus has been on moving state workers out of positions bankrolled by the general fund and into state jobs underwritten by other sources.

"Government has always been viewed correctly as an institution that immunizes itself from this kind of pain," noted Darry Sragow, a Democratic political guru. "But governing requires making decisions that are painful."

Not that Sragow sees it this way - he doesn't - but governing is what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger finally is doing.

Payroll is shrinking. Lynelle Jolley of the State Personnel Board explained to me that the 244,000 figure includes some vacant positions. The governor does not have the authority to swiftly lay off state workers, but up to 4,600 staffers could lose their jobs in September.

The biggie: The governor can unilaterally furlough state employees - he recently added a third day to two unpaid furlough days per month. As Jolley noted, the governator's furlough action "translates into a 14 percent cut in pay" for most state workers.

That big pay cut is expected to yield $2.2 billion in savings this fiscal year. The bad news: There's $24 billion to go.

Arnold also has rediscovered "waste, fraud and abuse" - his mantra for the spending cuts he promised during the 2003 recall campaign. But he couldn't handle the criticism that followed attempts to cut spending and so dropped his campaign promises.

EVERY conservative stuck in a Blue State can tell you horror stories about their state budgets, too. Absolutely NONE of Wisconsin's "stimulus" cash is going to create ONE job, while Wisconsin continues to CHASE business and jobs out of the state! The cash is going to plug holes in Socialist spending programs, which is going to set up an impossible situation for two years down the road when we have to suffer through this all over again! Grrrr!

Here's what our 'Rat Governor is doing to us. His current approval ratings are below 30%.

Report: 83% of stimulus cash pays for three state programs

By Steven Walters of the Journal Sentinel - July 8, 2009

Madison -- Wisconsin state government will get $3.45 billion from the federal economic stimulus package over a three-year period, and 83% of that -- or $2.86 billion -- will pay for health care, public schools and the state's highway system.

In a report to lawmakers, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau documented how two spending bills approved by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Jim Doyle this year allocate the $3.45 billion in federal funds that state government will get by mid-2011.

Of that, $2.22 billion was used to offset the record drop in state tax collections, the Fiscal Bureau noted. In the budget year that ended June 30, tax collections were expected to drop by 7.1% -- or a record $925 million.

The report said $1.26 billion in federal cash was spent on health-care programs, including Medicaid that cares for the elderly, poor and disabled, and SeniorCare that helps those over 65 pay for prescriptions; $1.16 billion went to subsidize public schools or specialized aid programs for schools, and $426 million went for highways and other transportation programs.

State officials used the $3.45 billion to pay for 30 different programs, the report said. The smallest amount -- $555,300 -- went to help administer the state's unemployment insurance program, which has been swamped with applicants because of the recession.

Republican legislators, who voted against the 2009-'11 budget that Doyle signed into law on June 29, have said using the one-time $3.45 billion for many ongoing programs will make it harder to balance the next state budget that must pass in two years.

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