Special Election tomorrow
A longer version of a story that ran Friday on Tuesday's Special Election follows this post.
Californians will be asked to vote on six budget propositions, 1A - 1F, that proponents say will fix the state's perennial budget problems. Detailed analysis of each ballot measure is available from the Secretary of State's Office.
Polling shows that voters are not likely to approve the measures, which among other things, ask voters to agree to keep recent tax increases on the books at a time when the economy looks to remain sour for the next year or two.
The taxes are included in the complicated language of 1A, which proponents say will also limit state spending and improve the state's fiscal reserves. Prop. 1C is also designed to raise revenue by allowing the state to borrow against future lottery money. As a package, the propositions could be worth about $6 billion.
If not for continued deterioration of California government's finances, the choice could be described as that of taxes or deep cuts to state services. But state programs stand to be chopped either way, as California is projected to have a $15.4-billion deficit if the measures pass or a $21.3-billion deficit if the measures fail.
By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
California will be broke if voters reject a package of ballot measures in Tuesday's Special Election, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Thursday.
But the governor also said California will be broke even if voters pass those same ballot measures.
"Until we fix the system, the madness, the budget madness that has plagued the state will never go away," Schwarzenegger said.
The governor is asking California voters to approve a package of budget proposals that he and other proponents say will add about $6 billion to the state's revenue stream.
Proponents are also touting the ballot measures as a means to add sanity to the state's budget process. Proposition 1A -- one of six measures on the ballot -- would extend recent tax and Vehicle License Fee increases while increasing the governor's power to limit Sacramento's spending and increasing the targeted size of the state's
"rainy day fund."
If the propositions pass, California still faces a $15.4 billion deficit. If voters say no
billion.
Whether or not the propositions pass, Schwarzenegger proposes to consolidate a number of state government departments.
Newly proposed cuts could take billions from education. The University of California and California State University systems could lose more than $1 billion, and another billion could be sliced from Proposition 98 funding for schools, although the administration
expects federal dollars to offset Proposition 98 cuts.
The state will also need to borrow $6 billion to keep government
operating under Schwarzenegger's plans.
If voters say no to the ballot measures, additional proposed cuts
include the following:
- The governor's contingency plan seeks to save $128.1 million by commuting the sentences of imprisoned illegal immigrants in
order to begin federal deportation proceedings unless Uncle Sam provides funding to pay for incarceration costs.
Schwarzenegger also proposes to save $100 million by allowing low level offenders to be held in local jails instead of state prisons and eliminating $108 million in funding.
- Failure of the ballot measures could result in an additional $2.3 billion in cuts for education and a 7.5-day reduction in California's school year.
- The state could also balance its books by borrowing nearly $2 billion from local governments.
"I absolutely despise taking from local governments, but that is only under the worst-case scenario," Schwarzenegger said.
But local governments are having hard times too.
This year, San Bernardino has laid off 17 employees and another 12 layoffs are planned, acting City Manager Lori Sassoon said.
The city's police force is also short 22 sworn officers, and if the state borrows local revenues, Sassoon said San Bernardino could lose about $3 million. Incidentally, there's $3 million left in the city's budget reserves.
"It doesn't solve the issue, they have to pay us back with interest," Sassoon said. "It's tremendously difficult."
Among the Inland Empire's delegation to Sacramento, Assembly members
Anthony Adams, R-Claremont, and Wilmer Amina Carter, D-Rialto, both said they favor the ballot measures.
Adams said 1A gives voters "a historic opportunity to have a spending cap and rainy day fund."< and Carter said California has run out of options.
"We need to tell them the truth and ask them for help. We need to say 'We don't have the money,'" Carter said.
But Assemblyman Paul Cook, R-Yucaipa, and State Senator Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, said they oppose the tax hikes.
Dutton said California's economy won't recover unless the state makes life easier for its residents and businesses.
"They don't solve the problem," Dutton said. "We continuously increase the cost of living in California. We continuously increase the cost of doing business in California."
Cook doesn't expect voters to trust Sacramento enough to approve a tax hike. He doesn't want to cut firefighting, law enforcement or teaching jobs but wants to reduce the size of state government.
"It's too bloated, and we need a hard look at a lot of departments and see if they can justify their existence," Cook said.
About SB Now Blog
Andrew Edwards. E-mail Andrew here.
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