calgov2002:
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Posted on 05/01/2002 2:01:25 PM PDT by Gophack
The state is unlikely to pass a new budget by the June 30 deadline, which could jeopardize the delivery of social services and worsen Sacramento's already dismal financial picture, two Inland Valley assemblymen said Tuesday.
Bill Leonard and Bob Pacheco, who serve on the Assembly Budget Committee, said hearings to discuss California's mounting budget deficit - projected at nearly $22 billion - have accomplished nothing because Gov. Gray Davis has made no new recommendations since releasing his first budget proposal three months ago.
Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean said the governor will make his final budget proposal after the May 14 budget revision is released and he fully expects the budget to pass on time.
However, Leonard, R-San Bernardino, said the state's precarious fiscal situation -- and a deficit projection twice shattered since first Davis pegged it at $12.5 billion -- will make it difficult for the Assembly and Senate to agree on a budget in just six weeks.
"Most years, we simply tweak the January budget proposal after the May revise is released," Leonard said. "But this year, we'll have only about a month to deal with what will essentially be a brand-new recommendation."
The state Constitution mandates that a balanced budget be passed by the end of June. However, Pacheco, R-Walnut, said that at this point, he can not envision that happening.
"My projection is that we're not going to make the June deadline," Pacheco said. "Quite frankly, I don't know when we'll have a budget."
The federal government can pass a budget that includes deficit spending, but state lawmakers are barred from doing that by the California Constitution. If a balanced budget fails to pass by June 30, state agencies could lose funding until one does.
Failure to pass a budget by the deadline would not trigger an immediate shutdown. However, agencies might lose the ability to purchase supplies, or shut down altogether -- as happened in 1983 when the budget passed three weeks late, Leonard said.
Pacheco, who sits on the budget subcommittee dealing with health care, said funds for such programs could be cut off if a budget impasse were to last deep into July.
And both warned that the state's cash-flow situation is less than desirable, and would be exacerbated by a failure to pass a budget by June 30.
"In addition to not having a budget, there's a real possibility we'll run out of cash," Leonard said.
McLean, meanwhile, dismissed the concerns of legislators who worry that six weeks is not enough time to fashion Davis' proposal into a workable budget.
"Keep in mind that because of term limits, you're talking to an Assembly and Senate that is new, and does not have vast experience" with this process, she said.
McLean acknowledged that the task of negotiating a budget is different than in previous years, but said it is manageable. Davis, she added, fully expects the budget to pass on time.
"The governor jumping the gun with guesses and hypothetical scenarios wouldn't serve the public well and wouldn't serve the legislature well," McLean said.
However, state government analyst Tim Hodson, who spent 15 years working in the Legislature and has run the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento since 1993, said six weeks may not be sufficient, given the political realities involved with passing a budget in an election year.
"The legislature is at a disadvantage in dealing with the budget this year," Hodson said. "Because the deficit has grown so much since January, it is essentially a new ballgame, and the process will have to be restarted."
Assemblyman Leonard is a senior member of the Assembly ... he was in the Assembly in the 80s, was in the State Senate for 8 years, and then went back to the Assembly. I wouldn't call him "new" or "inexperienced". In fact, he has more experience than virtually any other member in the Legislature in dealing with budgets!
This is just Davis-spin because he is up the creek without a paddle, and he's trying to figure out how much smoke he can blow to conceal his failures.
DUMP DAVIS
As I recall, during last year's electricity crunch Governor Davis made numerous predictions, all of which were promptly proven wrong. I doubt he's gotten any better at that skill, so we can safely assume that this budget will definitely not be passed on time.
You are SOOOOOOO right.
Energy ... budget ... education ... all failures. Did anyone else see the article this morning where the low-performing schools had their performance standards LOWERED so that the state wouldn't have to take them over? PATHETIC! And this was something Davis touted and campaigned on!
DUMP DAVIS!
Like this:
I would really like to see an article with a few of the proposals that exist - "Cut the schools by 25% and make the teachers' unions want to kill Davis", etc.
Where did Davis' idea that he was expanding spending on things that could be easily contracted go? For instance, he put a lot into the roads, maybe he can pull that back during this desperate emergency. Of course now we have a proposition that forbids that, so never mind.
What would you do if you were Davis? He certainly seems to be in an unthinkable mess that voters will find hard to forgive if it's presented to them with any flair.
Seems to me that Simon's a lot better off than the pessimists think - although I agree with Dog Gone that he faces a very tough challenge if elected.
D
Translation: Citizen legislators don't know how to manage money nearly as well as we professional politicians.
Well listen to this lady. You and Davis and all your life-long career government cronies would have gotten the ax long ago if you ran a private sector company into the ground as fast and as ineptly as you have ruined California's finances.
Instead of contempt for term limtis -- Ms. McLean -- you should be grateful that there are people around who have worked in the real world who will eventually be called upon to fix this mess you've gotten us into.
Excellent!
Dump Davis!
The deficit is $20 billion or so.
The proposed budget for 02-03 is $100 billion ... you do the math.
Dump Davis!
Raising taxes is always appealing to a Democrat, except in an election year, because doing so tends to anger everybody except his core constituency.
The third alternative is to have somebody loan him $20 billion or so, and worry about how to repay it next year.
I don't know how feasible that third alternative is, but it's the only one that can keep Davis in the Governor's chair. I think the odds of lining up that kind of loan in two months is pretty slim, when he has been trying for over a year to borrow $12 billion for the power purchases.
It's going to be awfully entertaining to watch, especially to those of us who live outside of California who aren't paying the bill.
Then during the weekend of 13/14 May he and his henchmen will wear those hats while dropping off their worthless budget and urge the legislature to approve it as the first item on Monday, 15 May.
With his "Trust me, I'm your governor hat" on, he will say to the legislators, "Just trust me and sign this great budget! No new taxes and no tax cuts!" "You don't to read this, trust me!"
We sent in our Kali income taxes over 5 weeks ago. We are do to a refund, and we have not seen it nor do I expect it anytime soon. Apparently more people are eligible for refunds, the state is broke and so guess what is happening to our refunds checks. Of course they may check your address with the voting people, and if you are a repubie, your refund check will just set there.
The last time this happened was 10 years ago when Willie Brown and Burton came close to bankrupting California inspite of Pete Wilson wearing out his veto pen.
If I'm understanding this correctly - hard to believe these figures since they're so bad - if we assume revenues are going to be flat between this year and next, we're talking about a $40 billion hole, not $20 billion.
| Budget | Budget Increase | Deficit | Gap | % Shortfall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $80bln | - | $20bln | $20bln | 25% |
| $100bln | $20bln | $20bln | $40bln | 40% |
Am I missing something here?
If the public at large understood this stuff, Davis wouldn't have a chance at getting out of the state house alive, much less being re-elected.
And he ran on a pseudo-conservative, responsible platform, too! Can't trust these guys.
D
What a chicken sh!t excuse. Give me a break.
It's not funny or entertaining for those of us who are paying the bills. This just makes me ill.
Davis should call it his 'going out of business' sale -- everything 40% off!!!
That will get it back down to $60 Billion and manageable for the NEW governor, Bill Simon.
I'm surprised that Governor Doofus hasn't pledged ALL of his $31 million 'campaign warchest' to help with the deficit.(And, don't say that he couldn't be that dumb.)
There are various estimates of what the projected budget will have to look like, but that's different that what the proposed one will be.
Will Davis propose a budget of $100 billion or $60 billion? We won't know until after May 14.
The state is unlikely to pass a new budget by the June 30 deadline, which could jeopardize the delivery of social services and worsen Sacramento's already dismal financial picture, two Inland Valley assemblymen said Tuesday.
However, Leonard, R-San Bernardino, said the state's precarious fiscal situation -- and a deficit projection twice shattered since first Davis pegged it at $12.5 billion -- will make it difficult for the Assembly and Senate to agree on a budget in just six weeks.
"My projection is that we're not going to make the June deadline," Pacheco said. "Quite frankly, I don't know when we'll have a budget."
....If a balanced budget fails to pass by June 30, state agencies could lose funding until one does.
Failure to pass a budget by the deadline would not trigger an immediate shutdown. However, agencies might lose the ability to purchase supplies, or shut down altogether -- as happened in 1983 when the budget passed three weeks late, Leonard said.
Pacheco, who sits on the budget subcommittee dealing with health care, said funds for such programs could be cut off if a budget impasse were to last deep into July.
I'll bet right now folks are trying to figure out how to make the Republicans seem like they will be the people responsible for shuting down the California government by not joining Democrats in passing the budget.
I would suggest to Republicans that before the vote and before Davis Budget that they come up with a "Contract for the future," that lays out the conditions on which the party will endorse voting for the budget. Then make sure that the republicans stand firm in an election year.
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Sounds good to me.
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