[img]1640|left|||no_popup[/img]In a recent press conference, Gov. Brown announced a “balanced” California budget. At the same time, he admitted a “wall of debt” remains. If so, the budget is not balanced. Either Gov. Moonbeam has been hanging out in the sun too long, or he thinks that any news would be good news. Since voters have endured darker, leaner times for so long, he reasons voters will take anything as a ray of light.
Brown's “balanced” budget relies on rising revenues, which have not yet been raised. Higher taxes rates do not mean higher revenues. These projections are examples of more slippery accounting that puts pressure on our public schools without providing proper revenue streams in the future.
State Sen. Ted Lieu attempted to sell the line that the California state budget was balanced, with “only” a one-billion dollar deficit remaining. This is not budgeting. This is blowing hot air and calling it “substance”. One is tempted to write: “Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.” In reality, the budget seems more like “BS” to voters in the South Bay.
Is He Free to Spend?
All of Brown's accounting amounts to more of the same Sacramento smoke and mirrors. Taking the lead on “restoring funding,” the governor wants to spend more money because the “deficits” have diminished. The last thing that the state Legislature should be doing is spending more money, starting with “poor” public schools, which are not poor because they are not getting enough money. The student-teacher ratio is smaller in the inner city schools because they receive Title I funds.
If students in struggling schools are “struggling” to get a proper education, the governor should be the first to demand school choice for all students. Centinela Valley Union High School District, long regarded as one of the most dysfunctional districts in Los Angeles County, had to implement choice and install tighter security to keep student enrollment up.
Charter schools in the LAX area are eating away at enrollment in L..A school districts, including Inglewood Unified School District, which entered into state receivership because of fiscal problems. Wiseburn School District is breaking away to unify on its own. More freedom for the school districts, more freedom for the schools, more fiscal prudence, and students who are receiving a “poor” education can get something better.
Of course, Gov. Brown could cut more sources of excessive spending. The Central Valley bullet train project still is shooting the state in the foot. When will the governor put the brakes on this waste? Even recently re-elected state Sen. Fran Pavley assented that the boondoggle needs to be put on hold. How many billions of those train dollars could go toward training our youth? Future graduates may not be able not catch a train to the Central Valley, but at least they could earn a high school diploma, enroll in a state university, and get a good enough job to buy a car.
How Not to Raise up the ‘Poor’
Like many liberal elites, Gov. Brown is convinced that more money, more spending will improve the “poor education” of “poor” students in “poor” communities. However, four-fifths of the school districts' money goes toward employee pensions and benefits. The “wall of debt” lamented by the governor stems from these lavish retirement obligations weighing on the state. Tackle the spending, reform the entitlements, and the students will benefit from the properly redirected funds.
Gov. Brown should also suspend the cap-and-trade program, even though credits went on sale last November. Contrary to initial projections, the carbon credit auction brought in a “grand” total of $55 million (as opposed to $1 billion). The California Chamber of Commerce sued to enjoin this unwieldy green bureaucracy. In their complaint, the Chamber submitted that this massive environmental intervention will cost the state $70 billion. Currently, electricity prices are rising because of cap-and-trade. Gov. Brown has acknowledged that California's finances still hang in the balance, in spite of tax increases and slight job growth. Instead of taxing businesses and capping carbon emissions, the governor should suspend the program, one enacted by a Republican governor, no less.
While Brown talks a good talk about balancing budgets, and he has acknowledged that his budget proposals rest on overly optimistic expectations, he even recognizes the still-imposing “wall of debt,” the state of California continues to spend too much.
Like Washington, lack of revenue is not the problem. The high taxes, the excessive regulations, and the fiscal management at the County and state levels are exacerbating public debt in California.
Gov. Brown’s “balanced” budget is not. California voters should hope that Republicans (and some Democrats) in Sacramento hold the governor's fiscal feet to the fire.
The diminished Republican caucuses in Sacramento do not have to sit out until the next election. They can propose flexibility in funding for county and city governments. They can plea for eliminating waste and fraud in the state bureaucracy. They can reach out to conservative Democratic voters and Democratic legislators in swing districts. The rising conservative tide can keep Brown off-balance as long as he foolishly insists that California's budget woes are something of the past.
Arthur Christopher Schaper is a writer and blogger on issues both timeless and timely; political, cultural, and eternal. A lifelong resident of Southern California, he currently lives in Torrance. He may be contacted at arthurschaper@hotmail.com, aschaper1.blogspot.com and at asheisministries.blogspot.com. Also see waxmanwatch.blogspot.com
