Legislature passes budget, adjourns (California)

The Sacramento Bee ^ | 9/1/02 | Jennifer Coleman

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Lawmakers passed a two-months-late budget early Sunday morning and approved a last-minute array of bills ranging from construction defects to driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants as the Legislature ended its 2002 session.

The $99 billion budget closed a $23.6 billion deficit through a combination of spending cuts and new revenues -- which legislative leaders took great pains to not call new taxes -- and required Gov. Gray Davis to make $750 million in cuts from government operations, not programs.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

ping

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for the post and the ping!

calgov2002:

calgov2002: for old calgov2002 articles. 

calgov2002: for new calgov2002 articles. 

Other Bump Lists at: Free Republic Bump List Register

[Amerigomag]

About $2 billion in measures that add new money to the state treasury

Lets get the details posted ASAP fellow Freepers.

[byteback]

$1.2b is a change in the law qalowing business to write off certain operating losses. That's the one I need find out more on because nothing I've read lays out if that is capital spending, salaries, or what.
$225m is from witholding taxes on sales of commercial property
$400m from raising the witholding on employee stock options and bonuses from 6 to 9.3%

[monkeyshine]

Great. Make it harder and more expensive to do business in this state. Just what we need during a sagging economy.

So you can't write off some losses. Why take risks?
You have to pay withholding on commercial property sales? Why buy commercial property?
Istead of paying bonus', pay commissions.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

Notice this:

It also includes a semantically appealing solution to the issue of tax increases:

About $2 billion in measures that add new money to the state treasury.Lawmakers have called these "revenue enhancements" to avoid calling them tax increases and appeal to Republicans and their constituents.

[I_Love_My_Husband]

from the sj mercury:

"Assemblyman Keith Richman, R-Northridge, acknowledged Saturday that he is one of the four Republicans who plan to vote for the budget deal.

Richman, a first-term lawmaker, said he didn't think it would hurt him politically to break with Republicans and vote for the budget.

``This is the right budget,'' Richman said. ``This is a more fiscally prudent budget than the one submitted by the governor.''

One condition of Richman's support -- putting to voters a constitutional amendment steering a gradually increasing percentage of its general budget to schools, highways, parks and water projects starting in 2006 -- cleared the Assembly Saturday by a 75-0 vote. It needed to be passed by the Senate before the Assembly budget vote would be taken off call, and that had not happened by 11:15 p.m."

[I_Love_My_Husband]

more from the SJ Mercury:

"Assemblyman John Campbell of Irvine, the Assembly Republicans' main budget negotiator, said Republicans consider the deal a victory in the area of taxes. ``The straight-up tax increases have been taken out of this.''

Some Republicans who planned to vote against the budget blasted it on the Assembly floor Saturday night.

``I hope the people of California are listening up because you are being shot right dead in the wallet,'' said Assemblyman Jay La Suer, R-La Mesa.

[Guenevere]

If you read that title like I did...

Legislature passes budget, adjorns California.

Oh would that we could adjorn California :^)

[Dave_in_Upland]

Well the Republicans rolled over again.

What really makes this budget bad is that it only balances because the Dems have borrowed everything they could from the future. Next year they will be faced with borrowing at least 20 billion to balance the budget, and it won't be there. Hold on to your wallets folks, things are gonna get worse.

[daviddennis]

It's another bizarre gimmick. To get business to agree, it expires in two years and is replaced then by a much more generous provision. Bizarre.

At least they didn't murder cigarette smokers or drivers. The woman I love is the former, and of course both of us are the latter.

At the same time, they probably should have kept the tax increases and dropped the various smoke & mirrors borrowing schemes that will destroy us in the end.

I guess real spending cuts were out of the question :-(.

Incidentally, judging by the OC Register article, Gray Davis had absolutely nothing to do with any of this, thus continuing his administration's Ostrich theme.

D

[Diddle E. Squat]

Well the Republicans rolled over again.

No they did not, only 4 out of 30 did. That means that 26 out of 30 Republicans did not cave.

[Regulator]

Richman is also pro-abortion, and plans to vote for required abortion training. He's announced that he is a candidate for mayor of the new city that would be created by the secession of the San Fernando valley, so I suspect some of his positions are related to that.

I did not see any mention of the actual overall deficit. When last we saw it, it was headed south towards $27 billion. It's not surprising that the Mercury News never stated it. I suspect that they were only able to "close" it to about $24 billion. So, where will they get the money?

Yup. They're going to borrow it. And who will pay for the borrowing?

Yup. That would be us.

Also note that the quid pro quo that Richman asked for didn't happen. That's what he gets for trusting RATs...

[Regulator]

You got it dead on. The only upside of this insanity is that we now have a gargantuan stick to hit Davis on the head with. How much do they actually have to borrow? $24 billion? Connell said just this week that the deficit would actually be $27 billion, based on current receipts.

The big question is, will the oh-so-nice and soft voiced Bill Simon be able to use that stick, or will he still be dancing Davis' tune trying to explain the lawsuit non-issue?

[gunshy]

This is good, just another step closer to bankruptcy. Someday the sheeple will wake up. I hope.

[Drango]

It also includes a semantically appealing solution to the issue of tax increases: About $2 billion in measures that add new money to the state treasury. Lawmakers have called these "revenue enhancements" to avoid calling them tax increases and appeal to Republicans and their constituents.

Too bad we can't come up with $2 billion in SPENDING CUTS. We can call 'em whatever the politicans want. Heck call 'em "revenue DEHANCEMENTS".

[NormsRevenge]

Thanks grlfrnd .. I see the legislators decided they hjad to do something and this buidget IS "IT" !!! GodSave California.

Hello From Skagway, Al;aska today & Ketchikan, Tuesday and I'll be back online and ornier then ever Sept. 6th.

Good Job to all you Simonites. Bear down!! The real election is only beginning.

Keep it flowing!!! WE Need To Flush Sacramento and the Turds back to Russia.

[goldstategop]

Its a make believe state budget. It consists of quiet tax increases through increased withholding and a deferment of certain business related exemptions and it basically freezes the bloated size of state government by eliminating vacant state position. Now this is the liberals idea of a draconian state budget! They haven't seen what "draconian" really is. I would really like to see a big whack taken to California state government but unfortunately that's the problem. Every liberal here would be put permanently out of work.