This story was reported for the San Diego News Network on January 7, 2010.
An assortment of reactions to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s State of the State address, UC Irvine Chancellor’s anticipated meeting with angry students, and millions of unexpected cash is what you have here, in this entry of California Budget Crisis Diaries.
Mixed reactions: Schwarzenegger’s final State of the State address, comprising of a list of his “priorities” received a mix of reactions.
According to The Los Angeles Times, some of Schwarzenegger’s goals were “dismissed.”
“Legislative leaders praised his tone and some of his ideas but immediately dismissed several of his strongest pleas, either for ideological or practical reasons.
State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) criticized the ‘rollback of environmental and consumer protection laws’ in Schwarzenegger’s jobs package, a linchpin of his agenda. Schwarzenegger would shield some big construction projects from lawsuits over environmental regulations, but Steinberg said he should first use $3 billion in voter-approved borrowing and additional federal stimulus funds that are ‘stuck collecting dust in the bureaucracy.’
Fellow Republicans lauded his economic plans, which included allocating $500 million to train workers, but were skeptical about Schwarzenegger’s proposals for a constitutional change that would require more spending on higher education than on prisons. The plan would further privatize prisons, and the likely opposition from employee unions would probably be too much to surmount in a tough year, they said.
‘Clearly that is going to be a hill to climb, but this is a very difficult budget cycle,’ said Assembly GOP leader Sam Blakeslee of San Luis Obispo.”
On the federal level, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told the Times her thoughts.
“Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) quickly scolded Schwarzenegger for his comments, saying California’s budget troubles were not Obama’s fault.
‘It sounds like the governor is looking for someone else to blame for California’s budget,’ Feinstein said.”
Despite the unique blend of reactions to Schwarzenegger’s speech, he will still have to release his budget proposal Friday with a plan on how to solve the deficit and allocate the funds the state government still has.
Time with chancellor: After a student protest Monday on UC Irvine’s campus, its chancellor has decided to have a forum for the university’s community.
As reported by the Orange County Register, the forum will be held on Jan. 13 for one hour.
“It comes after two months of demonstrations in Irvine and at UC campuses across the state.
Protests began after the University of California announced its plan to cut spending and increase student fees by 32 percent in the face of a massive budget shortfall.
The initial budget protests expanded to include student complaints about the university’s labor and hiring practices, as well as student-university police relations. In early December, on the same day as a 300-person demonstration on the Irvine campus, Chancellor Drake met with a small delegation of student protest leaders and eventually agreed to host the forum.
No specific agenda or topics have been set for the discussion as student leaders insist that the campus’ diverse concerns would be best addressed in as ‘open a forum as possible.'”
Cash report: The final cash report for 2009 shows that California actually gained about 5.7 percent more than expected, or $481 million.
“December receipts showed signs of improvement, but the State continues to face tremendous fiscal challenges,” said State Controller John Chiang. “At best, this is the beginning of a long and gradual recovery.”
Despite the good news, year-end revenue is less than the state’s budget estimates by nearly $353 million and the overall cash position is less by $202 million.
“There are no quick and easy solutions – education, prisons, health and social services together make up 93 percent of our State’s General Fund budget. But the Governor and Legislature can limit the pain by acting expeditiously to avoid IOUs or payment delays this year,” Chiang said.
The state’s cash deficit grew from $11.9 billion in January to $24.8 billion by Dec. 31. According to the controller’s office, the state is currently borrowing $16 billion from special funds and another $8.8 billion in short-term revenue notes to make up for the loss.
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.