And now for something completely different: an on-time CA budget!
For only the second time in 10 years, Governor Brown signed into law today a state budget that was on-time and balanced. I think that says a lot about California politics, and it would not have been possible without a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment passed in November 2010! Cockeyed optimism! That is what allowed California lawmakers to bridge the final $4 billion of the deficit, by adopting a “rosier revenue forecast.” Don’t get me wrong – I am an optimist too, and I think that rosy revenues are likely. However, if the revenues do not materialize, California will cut more deeply into the budgets of prisons, universities and courts, and cut up to seven days off the school year!
Republicans resisted extensions of temporary tax increases, forcing additional cuts. The $131-billion plan, $86 billion (hey, we’re talking about a STATE now! ) general fund spending plan cuts about 23% to state universities (you know where they make THAT up; [1]), raising the price of medical care for the poor (hey, the RICH are covered!), closing senior centers (who gives a damn about old people anyway! 😉 Wait! I might become an old person!), cutting welfare grants and cash aid for the elderly and disabled (see above!), closing a total of 70 state parks, raising fees for community colleges (see above), and cutting mental health programs (yeah, let’s hope that none of them shoot a member of Congress, AGAIN)!
Thanks Republicans. The “maroonic” Democrats DOMINATE California politics, but you have your moments, at least until the effects of redistricting are felt. Talk about an “Endangered Species….”
-Bill at
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