CHESSNOID

California’s budget woes seem to be a topic every month.  Governor Arnold on TV said “We are not like the federal government, we can’t just print money up so we can’t spend what we don’t have”.  California is looking pretty grim economically and it will affect the rest of the nation.  We are not the only state having budget issues.  We just happen to be one of the biggest.

Mercury News:

SACRAMENTO — Thousands of low-level criminals would get out of prison early. Funding for public schools would drop by billions of dollars. Strapped local governments would see their coffers raided once again. And programs that aid the poor, aged and disabled would be slashed.

Those drastic proposals are among the ideas Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered in his revised budget plan Thursday, as the state faces yet another enormous shortfall that could top $20 billion this summer.

“Every single thing we’re doing here is very tough,” the governor said. But there is little choice, he added: “We have no money.”

His announcement — which also includes a modest layoff of 5,000 state workers — came days before a Tuesday special election that features measures to ease the state’s financial crunch by extending tax increases, borrowing against future lottery proceeds and siphoning funds for children’s programs and the mentally ill.

And it came just three months after lawmakers spent sleepless nights hammering out a plan to close an earlier $42 billion shortfall. Since then, the economy has continued its downward spiral, and tax revenue has plunged even further.

If the measures pass, the state will have to close a $15.4 billion deficit; if they fail, as polls indicate is likely, that figure would grow to $21.3 billion through mid-2010. The total budget for the fiscal year that starts in July is estimated to be $84 billion

On a side note, Governor Arnold did try to fix the budget issues we have now a few years ago. His bill failed to pass. How ironic!

California Voters Reject Spending Cap Initiative
Budget & Tax News > December 2005
Taxes
Taxes > Caps and Limits
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Written By: Anthony P. Archie
Published In: Budget & Tax News > December 2005
Publication date: 12/01/2005
Publisher: The Heartland Institute

California voters on November 8 trounced an initiative designed to control state spending, voting 62 to 38 percent to reject Proposition 76, the “Live Within Our Means” Act supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The measure would have restricted state spending and addressed many of California’s lingering fiscal problems, according to the governor and the measure’s supporters.