For officials working to solve California’s $24 billion budget deficit, Judgment Day has come.
At a joint session of the State Legislature on June 2 in Sacramento, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put the pressure on lawmakers to vote on proposed cuts to the revised budget before the state runs out of money.
“California’s day of reckoning is here,” Schwarzenegger said. “Our wallet is empty. Our bank is closed. Our credit is dried up. I know for many of you, these will be the hardest votes you will ever make, but the people sent us here to lead not only in times of prosperity but also in times of crisis. We must make these cuts and live within our means, because what is the alternative?”
Faced with what the governor called “the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Schwarzenegger urged lawmakers to use the crisis to consolidate state agencies and find more efficient ways to spend taxpayer revenue.
The state’s deficit has grown by nearly $10 billion since January, thanks to tax revenues that came in at $6 billion under projections. That’s a drop of 27 percent from last year, according to the governor’s website.
Voters rejected several ballot measures in a May special election, which would have extended tax increases and raised money through the state lottery.
Schwarzenegger has proposed getting rid of more than a dozen state agencies, including the Waste Management Board, the Court Reporters Board, the Department of Boating and Waterways, and the Inspection and Maintenance Review Committee.
“We should not and I will not cut a dollar from education, a dollar from health care, a dollar from public safety, or a dollar from state parks without first cutting the Waste Management Board,” Schwarzenegger said.
He also said the state should shift the burden of housing inmates to private correctional facilities and make all school textbooks available in a digital format, a move he said would save millions.
Schwarzenegger has proposed budget cuts to areas such as social services, health care, and education and said that the state will be at risk of going broke by the end of June.
According to the state’s website, the governor’s May budget revision funds all of the Proposition 98 education requirements, will keep state parks open, and won’t require a tax increase.
—Jeremy Thomas
This article appears in Jun 11-18, 2009.