Building a Rainy-Day Fund in a Deluge?

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

It's good to see the LA Times calling out the dysfunctional budget process. Even Halper describes some of the issues with the budget process and compares position to those of other states:

An outdated tax code, voter-approved initiatives that lock in billions of dollars for programs, inadequate oversight of spending and the lack of a substantial rainy-day fund all add to California's financial ills. Other states have addressed such issues with impressive results. But attempts at similar changes here routinely fall flat.

These are all important issues, but if you look down the page, then you get to the real issues. One could quibble with putting a possible rainy-day fund above the 2/3 requirement and Prop 13. It's burying the lede a smidge, but Halper spends some real time pixels/ink discussing the third rail of California politics, Prop 13.

But all the while, Villines insists that the solution is to build a rainy day fund while in the midst of a deluge:

"She [Michele Bachelet, Chile's President] is a former communist, and she was talking about how you have to have a rainy-day fund to balance ups and downs," Villines said. "If it is good enough for Chile and a former communist, it should be good enough for California."

I'm just guessing that Bachelet's advice didn't begin and end with the rainy-day fund. As a Socialist and a believer in social programs, Bachelet understands the concept of a diversified tax base. It's a pity that Villines dwells on the small things, while continuing to hijack the process using undemocratic means.

Comparing California to Virginia, the key difference is that Virginia, under Mark Warner's leadership and without a 2/3 rule, had the flexibility to revise their tax code. Villines and his crew refuse to allow the same.