This story was reported for the San Diego News Network on February 4, 2010.
California Budget Crisis Diaries turns 50 Thursday – well, 50-entries-old, that is – complete with all you need to know regarding California’s struggling finances. That also means SDNN’s deputy managing editor owes me dinner at the restaurant of my choice.
But all things 50-related aside, California remains in a $20 billion-plus hole and I’ll continue to give you the lowdown of the Golden State Crisis until it’s over (with the help of various news outlets as sources). Is that a promise? Well, I’ll try.
Here’s your 50th budget diary entry complete with insults from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, unprepared Californians, park advocates and longtime columnist Dan Walters.
You’re not California: Schwarzenegger says Florida is “for the old people” and that no one wants to take a vacation in Iowa.
The Republican governor on Tuesday told a Silicon Valley conference on infrastructure that in comparison, his state has a reputation as a destination.
“No matter where you go in the world, people still want to come to California,” Schwarzenegger said. “There’s no one screaming like, ‘I can’t wait to get to Iowa.’ That I can guarantee you. They want to come here to California.”
He also said that California’s economic diversity can be seen in Hollywood, technology startups, tourism and agriculture, whereas many states are noted for just one attribute.
Troy Price, a spokesman for Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, said Iowa’s balanced budget and improvements in the quality of life in the last few years were a contrast to California’s deep budget problems.
He added, “We invite Californians and Gov. Schwarzenegger to come to Iowa and see what the best state in the nation has to offer.”
Unprepared Californians: A new report shows Californians aren’t prepared for the next round of budget cuts.
According to New America Media, the anticipated cuts to social services will come “at a time when Californians need the programs most.”
“A new report released this week from the non-profit, California Budget Project, Proposed Budget Cuts Come at a Time of Growing Need, argues that California’s economy hasn’t been weaker since the Great Depression. The 12-page reports notes that Californians are ill-equipped to weather the cuts the governor is proposing.
The Golden State has lost more than a million jobs since the recession began, and it continues to lose tens of thousands of jobs every month. Six job seekers are searching for each available job. Enrollment in the state’s Food Stamp Program has increased 43m percent. The number of Californians receiving CalWorks welfare checks has grown by 86,000; the number enrolled in Medi-Cal has jumped by more than 470,000.”
New America also noted that the cuts to social services could “jeopardize federal matching funds that are meant to help states continue.”
Parks taking a hit, too: California’s parks are also back on the chopping block and like any other cut, some aren’t too happy.
According to Capitol Weekly, whose writer Elizabeth Goldstein states that they do not endorse the idea, Schwarzenegger’s Administration “proposes to cut $140 million allocated to state parks and offset it with future revenues from oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast.”
“Threatened cuts to state parks funding are nothing new. In fact, the annual threat of park closures during the past three years has shown that long-term, stable funding is needed to protect California’s state park system. What are not needed are desperate yearly budget shenanigans that threaten our state parks for minimal budget savings. “
Goldstein goes on to write that “Californians of all political stripes” have been angry with the constant cuts to state parks and advocates have “flooded their elected officials with more than 156,000 letters to legislators and the Governor opposing” the idea.
Thoughts of a long-time columnist: The Sacramento Bee‘s Dan Walters criticized lawmakers in his latest column, noting that the “California budget is headed off a cliff – again.”
Walters writes that Schwarzenegger, who heavily relied on the federal government to offer nearly $7 billion on funds and ended up receiving $1.5 billion like other states for the next fiscal year, needs to “act quickly” in dealing with this year’s budget.
“This week, President Barack Obama unveiled his own budget and it contains, at most, less than a quarter of what Schwarzenegger wants – such as no more than a token payment to the state to cover imprisoning illegal-immigrant felons.
‘This represents a down payment on what California is owed,’ Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said after the Obama budget was released. ‘The governor will continue his work with the Obama administration and congressional delegation to secure the balance.’
OK, but meanwhile, California’s budget woes worsen by the day. Officially, the state has a $19.9 billion deficit for the remaining five months of this fiscal year and all of the next, but there’s every reason to believe it will be worse, given the sorry history of budget forecasts. In just two months, Controller John Chiang says, the state will face the year’s first cash crunch – a lack of money to pay its outstanding bills – unless Schwarzenegger and legislators act quickly. “
He ends his column with a simple, “Here we go again.”
Don’t forget to take a look back at all the entries of CBCD to see how the state has changed or not in the past 25 weeks. Happy 50 CBCD entries!
Associated Press contributed to this report. Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.