[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Californians are concerned with protecting education by not increasing the size of classrooms, cutting the number of classes or laying off teachers. People recognize education is vital but while we need to protect education we can’t do it on the backs of people in need of vital services like health care. The reality is we need to use a balanced budget approach. We need both cuts and new revenues to make this budget work. Voters want fiscal responsibility, not smoke and mirrors.

Parents, teachers, students and all Callifornians need to be part of the budget process because so much is at stake with the education of our children. Please watch this YouTube and get involved.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

$12 billion cut in annual taxes leaves state without enough money to pay for basic services

By Robert Cruickshank

If you tuned into my appearance on Wednesday's "Which Way LA?" show, you heard me discuss a "structural revenue shortfall" - that since 1978 California has simply not generated enough money to pay for its basic services, from public education to transportation to water. I thought I would expand on that concept this morning, and explain in more detail exactly what I mean by it.

Arnold and the Republicans would have us believe that our budget deficit is caused by overspending in the "good times" that leaves us with huge shortfalls when the economy turns sour. But there isn't $16 billion in "overspending" and Arnold knows it, as proved by his $4 billion cut for California public schools. Others claim that the problem is locked in and/or frivolous spending - but here again, that only accounts for a tiny fraction of the massive deficit total.

by Robert in Monterey [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

If you tuned into my appearance on Wednesday's "Which Way LA?" show, you heard me discuss a "structural revenue shortfall" - that since 1978 California has simply not generated enough money to pay for its basic services, from public education to transportation to water. I thought I would expand on that concept this morning, and explain in more detail exactly what I mean by it.

Arnold and the Republicans would have us believe that our budget deficit is caused by overspending in the "good times" that leaves us with huge shortfalls when the economy turns sour. But there isn't $16 billion in "overspending" and Arnold knows it, as proved by his $4 billion cut for California public schools. Others claim that the problem is locked in and/or frivolous spending - but here again, that only accounts for a tiny fraction of the massive deficit total.

No, the real problem is that since 1978 this state has cut nearly $12 billion in taxes. This was done during economically prosperous periods, particularly the 1990s. And that lack of revenue has piled up over the years - the state has fallen further and further behind to the point now that our state's governor is seriously proposing ending public education as we know it.

Details over the flip...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Anthony Wright
Executive Director of Health Access California

Former Governor Pete Wilson gave the Governor's radio address over the weekend, and hinted at what the Governor Schwarzenegger might be thinking, as we head into the week where the budget will be announced.

Josiah Greene at the California Majority Report is right to sound the alarm. Wilson invokes his attempt at Proposition 165, to give him as Governor more budget-cutting authority. It also raises the specter of Schwarzenegger coming back with something similar to Prop 76, which would have allowed the Governor to make unilateral budget cuts in certain emergencies. Both measures failed at the ballot box, and for good reason.

Whether the cuts are "unilateral" or "automatic" doesn't make them better, it makes them worse.

• It means that cuts are made without proper consideration of what is penny-wise and pound-foolish;

• It means that cuts are prioritized over other budget solutions, including raising revenues, and yes, taxes.

• It means that legislators escape accountability to make the tough choices, whether cuts or revenues.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

More from Michigan ... a great Ohio editorial and look what Maine is up to.
 
Revenge of term limits

"For more than four hours, Michigan's government was officially in shutdown mode after the legislature failed in its constitutional duty to enact a balanced budget by midnight, Oct. 1. Finally, the lawmakers narrowly passed two new revenue bills at 4:20 a.m. Monday, and a bone-tired Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a "continuation budget" that allowed the state to begin functioning again.
 
But almost no one deserves praise. The budget process in Michigan is not done, and another government shutdown could occur at the end of this month, if a highly partisan legislature fails to agree on $400 million in cuts that are still needed to balance a budget that should have been final on Sept. 30.
 
What's been going on in Michigan represents selfishness, a clash of narrow ideologies, and, most of all, the utter failure of term limits as a mechanism for good government." 

Think about term limits' impact on state before voting

Calls for State to Change Term Limits

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By John Laird
Chair of
Assembly Budget Committee and
Conference Committee on the Budget

The final state budget has been signed by the governor, and it’s bad news for anyone who looks to the state for health care, lower fees for higher education, human services, public transit, library programs, or protecting parks and the environment.

The budget delay also demonstrated why the budget process is broken. California is one of just three states—the others being Arkansas and Rhode Island—that require a two-thirds vote of each legislative house to approve a budget.

Even though the legislative budget process—highlighted by public hearings and a bi-partisan conference committee—produced a balanced budget on-time, Republican Senators held the budget up for 52 days. The budget that was held up also included the largest budget reserve in the history of the state. And it included no new taxes.

The 14 Senators blocking the budget not only wanted massive cuts in spending, they also wanted to leverage issues that were not even included in the budget, such as Attorney General actions against local governments on the fight against global warming. At one point, they even wanted to get around voters’ disapproval of parental notification for teens receiving reproductive health services.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

One vote. That's all we need to get a budget passed for California and put all of this posturing behind us. Though last night's vote fell short of the two-thirds needed for passage, Republican Senator Abel Maldonado (left), a moderate from Santa Maria, courageously broke ranks in support. This is a balanced budget with no new taxes, fees or social programs, the California Progress Report points out, and deeper cuts to welfare are off the table. What more can we do?

State Controller John Chiang was unable to make over $1 billion in payments for July, according to the Sacramento Bee. That's $1 billion that should be going to summer camps for children and care for low-income senior, the Bee editorializes, potentially putting working parents at risk of losing their jobs due to lack of childcare, among other problems.