|
|
|
 |
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
Posted on 10/11/2003 9:52:32 AM PDT by concentric circles
Edited on 04/14/2004 10:06:25 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Donna Arduin draws little attention as she walks the halls of the Florida State Capitol - most folks in that state don't know her name or the important role she plays in state government.
But the budgets she helps craft for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush - slashing taxes and state spending alike - have helped him and the Republican Party implement their conservative vision.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.ocregister.com ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Thursday that a fiscal adviser to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would oversee the audit of California's spending that the newly elected governor says is needed before he lays out his plan to fix state finances.
The task will fall to Donna Arduin, who will take temporary leave as Florida's state budget director to conduct the review. Arduin also worked as budget chief in New York under Republican Gov. George Pataki.
But Schwarzenegger's insistence on an "outside" audit is causing many in the Capitol to scratch their heads. California has a highly public budgeting process each year, and the state's spending plan is available to anyone who wants to see it.
The state also has both a state auditor who conducts a review of state spending every year and a nonpartisan analyst who examines the governor's annual budget. Another statewide officer, the state controller, employs 200 auditors who regularly conduct spending inquiries.
Some say they doubt the incoming governor can get enough savings by cutting waste and fraud to balance the budget without enacting deep spending cuts in programs or raising taxes -- which he has pledged not to do.
Steve Westly, the state controller who oversees a team of 200 auditors, said the state's budget information is readily available.
"You're not going to find too many surprises," he said. "It's all public and fairly straightforward. I urge the governor-elect to read it as early as he can."
California closed a $38 billion budget deficit this year with a combination of long-term borrowing, budget cuts and an increase in the car tax, which stands to produce $4 billion in additional revenue. But portions of that budget have been challenged by lawsuits, with conservatives seeking to overturn borrowing provisions. At the start of the next fiscal year July 1, the state will face at least an $8 billion revenue shortfall.
Schwarzenegger faced close questioning over the audit at a press conference on Tuesday in Los Angeles, where he introduced Arduin.
'EVERY DAY . . . NEW SURPRISES'
Asked what he thought an audit would reveal that could not be found in readily available state documents, Schwarzenegger said: "Well, we don't know. .
. . We will know very soon of what is in there that we don't know. As you know that every day there are new surprises that we find. And so we want to really open up the books and not have any surprises, because the only way that you can make good decisions is if you have all the information available."
Many state financial officials said the state's spending was no secret.
"The state of California has the most open, public and respected budget disclosure and display of any state in the union," said Steve Peace, the state finance director. "You can go to the Web site (to view the budget online), and you can talk to the rating agencies, talk to the people in the markets and such. Their concerns about California are the political system, the initiative process, a term-limited Legislature. Not whether someone is playing hide the ball with the budget."
Pressed for a time line on when the audit would be finished, Arduin said she would "absolutely" be able to finish the review in time to submit a budget document by January.
"She's great to work with, very results-oriented, and a great asset to the transition team," said Jacob DiPietre, Gov. Bush's spokesman. "We're looking forward to when she comes back."
She has held the position since December 1998 and currently oversees a budget of $53.5 billion, slightly more than half of California's spending plan.
REPORTEDLY AUTOCRATIC STYLE
According to Florida news reports, Arduin won grudging admiration from the state Legislature there for cutting $313 million in pork programs and special- interest tax breaks from a single year's budget. She is generally credited with making state spending more efficient and flexible, though she ruffled some feathers with a reportedly autocratic style.
Arduin arrived in California Thursday morning and was heading to Sacramento as soon as Schwarzenegger's news conference ended. She stood quietly alongside the governor-elect and Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, throughout the news conference.
She declined to say what exactly she would be looking for, although she said Schwarzenegger had asked her to first determine the size of California's budget problem.
Arduin is volunteering her services to Schwarzenegger, said Rob Stutzman, a spokesman for the governor.
She will soon be joined by "a number of outsiders, prominent figures from around the country who have offered their help," he added.
Arduin already is getting help from Republican staff members currently working for the state Senate and collecting information from other state employees in the Department of Finance, said state Sen. James Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, another member of Schwarzenegger's transition team.
The auditors "are looking for what the true debt and deficit of the state is," Stutzman said.
With Arduin working for free and using state workers for the early parts of the audit, "today there is no cost to the taxpayers," Stutzman added.
Some in state government have called for such a review of spending for some time, notably Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Richmond. Canciamilla, a centrist Democrat who has repeatedly said the state budgeting process is not conducive to examinations of how efficiently the state spends money, said the call for a review is understandable.
'HE'S CERTAINLY ENTITLED'
"We all know the state's finances are in a mess, and what he's trying to do is find out where to get the best information possible," Canciamilla said. "I suggest he sit down and spend some time with the legislative analyst's office. Certainly, if he wants an independent review, I think he's certainly entitled to that."
But others note that there have already been deep cuts in state spending and that there may not be much fat to trim.
The annual budget produced by the governor's office is the size of a large- city telephone book, crammed with numbers and charts.
In addition, the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office produces an equally thick take on the budget and its shortcomings.
Each year, that office makes recommendations for changes and cuts, some of which are accepted by lawmakers.
"I think the basic problem any governor faces is that most of the expenditures are large, local assistance grants for everything from education to health care," said Brad Williams of the Legislative Analysts' office. "If you're going to achieve meaningful reductions, you absolutely have to go there. "
|
|
|
|
|
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
|
The car tax flows back to local government and it's on it's way out. Tom McClintock has said again and again that the state needs to go back to the days when local governing bodies were self funding, get the state out of the revenue stream so that citizens can keep a closer eye on things and local officials have greater control over the budget process.
If anything, the Feds should immediately get a court order sealing all papers relating to the energy situation before they can be shredded by Grayed-Out and his cronies...
Want on our daily or major news ping lists? Freepmail DoctorZin
I agree, she sounds quite competent, although it will take a while for her to figure out California. There's a certain State Senator whom she might consult.
"Bush was very good with her help at ferreting out pork," he said. "I think he cut $300 million out of the budget in the first year he was there, and in the time she's been there they've cut more than a billion out of the budget in parochial issues - just pure pork projects.
Wow, $300 milllion, maybe she could do that here. So, where are the other $37.7 billion going to come from? /sarcasm
Really, California's mess is a lot worse than Florida ever was, both fiscally and politically. So, how many budget cutters are there on that transition team?
The only solution to California's budget problem will involve:
 Audit falls to Florida's budget chief / Some feel California spending is already one big, open book Donna Arduin will work for free while directing an audit of California's budget. Chronicle photo by Darryl Bush |
|||||
 |
|||||
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.