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Budget, Budget and More Budget


Budget, Budget and More Budget

Currently, Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are focused on remedying the state’s projected $24.3 billion deficit. Continued decline in state revenues, a depressed economy and the failure of the May 19 Special Election budget measures has forced the state to massively reduce spending or face complete fiscal collapse by July 29, according to State Controller John Chiang. As a result, the Governor has proposed drastic cuts to state spending, including state funding to Planned Parenthood, which will save preborn lives. The governor also proposed cutting employee salaries by five percent, in addition to the layoff of 5,000 state employees he has already ordered. 
Tuesday, in an address to the Legislature, the Governor defended his May Revision, in which he outlined his plan to remedy the state’s dire fiscal situation with massive cuts in state spending, borrowing from local governments, and elimination of state programs. He stated, “Those spending cuts [as outlined in the May Revise] represent much more the hard decisions necessary to balance our budget.” Declaring that he had already taken executive actions to reduce state expenditures, he stressed the need for legislative leaders to set aside partisanship in order to solve the state budget problem.
Last week, the Legislature began reviewing the Governor’s proposed cuts. After convening a joint budget review committee, the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst Office provided detailed information and analysis of the proposals. The committee will continue to meet regularly to allow public comment and consider the impact of the cuts on the state. While the members of the Legislature are resigned to the reality that cuts are necessary, deciding on what to cut is not so clear. 
If there is a silver lining to the state budgetary mess, it may be the reluctance of the State Legislature to enact additional costly new legislation that would adversely impact the California families. As previously noted, the proposed cut of $39 million to Planned Parenthood has the potential to save preborn lives. 
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