This story was reported for the San Diego News Network on January 14, 2010.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger continues pressuring the federal government for financial assistance while the finance gurus overseeing California’s accounts are asking people to cash in their IOUs. Meanwhile San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders explains the Gov.’s pony-pig-dog metaphor.
Cash in those IOUs: An estimated $500 million worth of IOUs have not been redeemed yet by roughly 89,000 individuals and agencies.
The offices of California Controller John Chiang and Treasurer Bill Lockyer will send out letters to those 89,000 recipients Friday asking that they claim their cash.
Last July, as the California Legislature worked to reach a budget agreement with the Governor – Chiang’s office was forced to issue $2.8 billion in IOUs to prevent a cash shortage.
According to Chiang’s office, 6,003 San Diego recipients have not claimed their IOUs totaling $2.6 million.
If you happen to be one of them, you can get your cash by mailing your IOU to 915 Capitol Mail, Attention Registered Warrant Desk, Sacramento, Calif., 95814.
The relationship with the feds: Schwarzenegger demanded more federal money in a letter to California’s congressional delegation Wednesday, as he highlighted half a dozen programs that cost the state billions.
He criticized some of the state’s federal representatives for saying California has created its own budget mess.
The Governor said several representatives, notably Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican U.S. Rep. David Dreier, have frequently called on the federal government in the past to give California a larger share of money. Feinstein and fellow Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer are among those who have thrown cold water on the Governor’s attempt to cover 40 percent of the state’s budget deficit with federal cash.
“Recent comments in the press that California’s budget deficit is not Washington’s problem turn on its head the very arguments that many in our delegation have made that our taxpayers are being shortchanged by Washington year after year,” Schwarzenegger wrote.
The budget Schwarzenegger proposed last week counts on getting another $6.9 billion in federal funds to help close the state’s $20 billion deficit. He plans to travel to Washington, D.C., Jan. 20 and 21 to meet with members of the congressional delegation and administration officials.
Schwarzenegger’s proposal: The Governor’s budget proposal for the next 18 months may be based on far-fetched theories.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the California Legislative Analyst Office released a report Tuesday highlighting Schwarzenegger’s “risky assumptions.”
“A report released Tuesday by the state’s nonpartisan legislative analyst said the Republican Governor’s spending plan, which would close a $20 billion budget shortfall over 18 months, is built on risky assumptions — including agreement by Washington to rescue the state.
‘While the odds seem favorable for some federal relief sought by the administration,’ the report said, ‘we believe that the likelihood of Washington agreeing to all of the Governor’s requests is almost nonexistent.'”
Sanders pokes fun at pony-pig story: In local news, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders offered State of the City attendees an explanation to Schwarzenegger’s interesting pony-pig metaphor used in his State of the State address last week.
Sanders, addressing the possibility of California lawmakers borrowing or taking money from local municipalities, said city and county governments play the “dog” in the Governor’s story.
“Last week, the Governor told lawmakers a story that illustrates that mindset [possibility of borrowing],” he said. “It’s an anecdote about two of his household pets – a miniature pony and a pot-bellied pig. As the story goes, the pig and the pony have learned to work together as a team to steal food from the Governor’s dog. He saw this eight-legged partnership as a metaphor for his own teamwork with the Legislature. The story makes more sense when it’s told with an Austrian accent. At any rate, I think you know who we are in the Governor’s analogy. We are the dog.”
Associated Press writer Don Thompson contributed to this report. Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.