by David Dayen [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Lynn Suter
Legislative Advocate

Here's what we know this morning. The actual announcement is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.

The major points:

• The deficit will be pegged at $15.2 billion, whatever that means. We no longer believe any of the numbers, so the Gov might just as well stick with one.
• The Gov will propose more cuts, raid special funds, and propose new revenues to close the gap.
• The Gov will propose "securitizing" future lottery funds with some kind of RAN, closing a big chunk of the deficit. I don't begin to understand how or whether this works, but am sure to be educated soon. Apparently he wants to let voters decide between a sales tax increase and borrowing from the lottery.
• Gov thinks the "reduced deficit" plus the lottery scam, cuts, and new fees, gets the state within spitting distance of deficit erasure.
• Gov will propose a back-up automatic sales tax increase to cover the deficit in case the voters reject his proposals in November.

Proposals we expect: