Vote yes to ease crisis, chasten politicians
California's fiscal crisis is real. Some may want to believe it's an apparition created by politicians who want to continue spending money that's not theirs. Slash some extraneous programs, cut legislators' pay and fire a few thousand lazy state employees and everything will be just fine, many Californians seem to believe.
But that's just plain wrong. California is teetering at the edge of the cliff -- again.
The state Department of Finance reports that state revenue was $415 million less than what was forecast in the budget deal approved in mid-February, bringing year-to-date arrears to $737 million. And state Controller John Chiang reports state revenue for March alone was $178 million shy of forecasts.
If the three key budget-related measures on the May 19 special election ballot fail, California is likely to face a $14 billion budget shortfall. Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger and state legislators are developing contingency plans sure to include new and deeper program cuts, park closures, and significantly less money for schools and local government services. Think those potholes are bad now?
Public safety associations, including law enforcement groups, along with the California Teachers Association, the League of California Cities, the Western Growers Association, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the California Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, are urging voters to approve the six budget-reform measures on the May 19 ballot.
Add our name to that list.
Why not just accomplish a workable budget solely with cuts? For one thing, because $14 billion in cuts is not possible if California is to provide its people the most basic and essential services, including police and fire protection. For another, approval of the budget-saving package of propositions (1A through 1F) actually mandates many deep and painful cuts, which is why so many social service advocates -- the people who generally support those free-spending Democrats -- are aghast at what these measures will do to their programs. We share their concerns, but these are dire circumstances.
Labor unions oppose Prop. 1A, the central and most controversial of the six measures, because of its cap on future state spending. But that's one of features of this package of proposals we like best: The cap virtually guarantees that we can't overspend like this again.
Prop. 1A would extend emergency tax and fee hikes (including that temporary 1-cent sales tax increase) by two years, which is by far the most irksome (and essential) aspect of the package. But 1A would also establish spending limits and a "rainy day" fund. It would give the governor power to make mid-year cuts when revenues fall short and limit raids on the "rainy day" fund, much to the consternation of special interest groups that don't like the idea of a Legislature that's too handcuffed to dole out money it doesn't have. But that's precisely why we like it.
The other propositions would fund schools, move voter-earmarked money into the general fund, expand the state lottery, and limit legislators' pay raises. Each has its flaws, but they target the same goal: Getting California out of this hole and taking steps to keep it out.
Raising taxes, even temporarily, is always a tough pill to swallow, and even more so when times are tough. But times will only get tougher if the state has to absorb another $14 billion budget shortfall. Californians must close the gap and put politicians on a short leash while they're at it. Plug your nose and support the six propositions at the top of the ballot.
