This Is A Budget?

Some 78 days past the constitutional deadline, legislators have finally passed what they are calling a budget. I have been involved in state politics since 1978, so this is the 30th state budget dance I have watched, and it is the sorriest excuse of legislating I have ever seen.

Republicans made a big play to oppose higher taxes, saying they wanted real budget cuts and true budget reforms before they would support a budget. Democrats first and only move, as always, was to propose higher taxes. Stalemate ensued.

In years gone by the governor, no matter his party, was able to play a leadership role in bringing the two sides together. Governor Schwarzenegger was unable, or unwilling, to provide such leadership. He does not enjoy the level of respect, or fear, that other Republican governors have had and couldn’t swing more than a handful of votes on the budget. To his credit, he did propose a “compromise” budget that included various attempts to increase revenues, including increasing the sales tax, but his ideas failed to generate support among either party.

The so-called budget that was passed early this morning is a joke. Republicans should be embarrassed for holding out against higher taxes, and then voting for this sham. It increases withholding taxes on millions of Californians and small businesses, with a promise to repay them next year (without interest). This, they say, is not a tax increase. Baloney. When you take billions of dollars out of the pocket of consumers and small businesses, it’s a tax increase.

But worse, the state is going to spend money now that won’t be available to spend later. That means next year’s budget will be even further out of whack than this year’s. That’s “true budget reform?” Give me a break.

And what of the “real budget cuts?” Most of the cuts are in health and welfare areas and some of them, including cuts to Medi-Cal providers, have already once been stopped by the courts. They will stop these, too, because they are illegal. These are programs that exist largely because the state receives federal funding to run them. The feds aren’t going to sit by while they fund a program and then see the state take the money to pay for its other obligations. Under the cuts, pharmacists, for example, are expected to pay more for the cost of some prescription drugs than they receive in Medi-Cal reimbursement. Forget about making a profit, they are apparently expected to reach into their own pocket to pay for the state’s obligations. That is not only lousy economic policy, it’s against the law.

What we have with this alleged budget is an embarrassment. It tells the people of California that the Legislature is completely dysfunctional and incompetent. If legislators were corporate CEOs, we’d have the SEC and other agencies descending on the capitol to haul them away in handcuffs.

Governor Schwarzenegger is making noise that he will veto this sham. Let’s hope he does. Then he needs to bring legislative leaders together in his office, lock the doors, and bust some heads until a responsible budget is presented to the people.

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Probably the only person who is happy with this budget is my friend and colleague, Rick Claussen. He’s the political consultant managing the campaign to enact Proposition 11 to reform the way that legislative districts are drawn. You can’t buy publicity like this.

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Comments

[Bob Eagle Smith]

Schubert for Governor.