Cuts
March 13, 2008
Must Read: “Machado grills analyst on prison budget”
State Sen. Mike Machado laid it on pretty thick today in questioning a representative of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger about the administration's budget proposals on prisons.
"You have given us a very incomplete proposal," Machado, D-Linden, told Department of Finance principal program analyst Jennifer Osborn at a budget subcommittee hearing on prison spending. "It's very hard for us to believe the governor is serious about this proposal."
Machado focused his questioning on Schwarzenegger's proposal to grant early releases to 22,000 inmates at the same time it's trying to expand prison capacity by 53,000 beds. Osborn, for the most part, was at a loss for words and wound up leaving the hearing in tears.
LINK - SacBee.com (The Sacramento Bee)
March 2, 2008
Governor’s Budgetary Bombshell
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled a slash-and-burn state budget nearly two months ago, saying drastic action was needed to close the state's chronic ever-growing deficits and seemingly rejecting new taxes to do it.
From the onset, however, it remained uncertain how serious he was about erasing the deficit without new revenue demanded by Democrats, even though his aides kept insisting that he would, indeed, be willing to sign such a budget.
Then Schwarzenegger dropped a big hint that he wasn't quite as determined as he had portrayed himself, telling The Bee's editorial board that his budget was meant to "rattle the cages" of legislators, impressing them with the gravity of the situation in hopes that they'd agree to some kind of long-term budget reform.
LINK - SacBee.com
January 24, 2008
Opinion: “What might happen if state doesn’t raise taxes?”
A week ago, when the Legislature's nonpartisan budget analyst presented her first-blush review of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2008-09 state budget, she praised the administration for using realistic economic assumptions, but with this grim warning: "The economy might be weaker than previously thought." In the eight days since, the California employment report for December was issued, showing a half-percent increase in the jobless rate and indicating a sharper downturn than anticipated. And then financial markets around the world went into a tailspin…
LINK - VenturaCountyStar.com
January 23, 2008
Commentary: “Playing Cuttlefish with the State Budget”
Everything else can be suspended by the same vote that adopts the budget - including every statute on the books. Even most constitutional mandates provide for their own suspension. […] Similarly, the state Legislature can force virtually any contract back to the bargaining table by refusing to fund it fully in the annual budget act. When Sen. Jackie Speier and I proposed doing so in 2004 in an attempt to bring state prison guard salaries under control, Schwarzenegger opposed it. Now, four years later, the governor proposes releasing 22,000 dangerous felons…
LINK - The-Signal.com
January 11, 2008
Governor’s New Budget Proposes Deep Cuts
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget, released Thursday would close a projected $14 billion gap by giving schools 10 percent less money, releasing 22,000 inmates early and closing dozens of state parks… [LINK]
Related Stories:
- Cuts Across the Board; No Increase
- KESQ.com - Governor's Budget Slashes Education, Releases Prisoners
- San Diego Union-Tribune - Deep Budget Cuts
- Mercury News - Governor proposes deep education, park cuts
