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Monday, March 28, 2011

Budget Talks Break Down After GOP Releases List of Demands

State budget talks between Republican legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown (D) stalled over the weekend, after GOP members released a list of 53 budget-related proposals, the Sacramento Bee reports (Siders, Sacramento Bee, 3/26).

Budget Background

Last week, the governor signed 13 measures to reduce California's deficit by $11.2 billion through cuts to health care services and other program changes. The state faces a $26.6 billion budget deficit over 18 months.

Brown also is trying to advance a plan to let voters in June decide on a measure to extend certain taxes. However, Brown has faced difficulty obtaining GOP support for the tax plan (California Healthline, 3/25).

GOP List Details

In their seven-page list released on Friday, GOP lawmakers outline several policy changes they say need to be implemented before they voice support for Brown's budget.

Items on the list include:

  • A request that the governor drop his plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies (Goldmacher/York, Los Angeles Times, 3/26);
  • Far-reaching pension changes;
  • Regulatory rollbacks;
  • A state spending cap; and
  • Demands for additional budget cuts (Harmon, Contra Costa Times, 3/25).

According to the document, GOP members favor an 18-month tax extension, instead of the five-year extension that Brown is seeking.

Democrats Respond

After Republicans presented the list, Assembly Speaker John Perez (D-Los Angeles) said Republicans and Democrats are now more divided.

Perez said, "I think this takes us clearly to a point where we will quickly have to decide whether or not to pursue solutions that do not require Republican votes" (Sacramento Bee, 3/26).

On Friday, Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said he was ready to "pull the plug" on negotiations with Republicans (Buchanan/Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/26).

Meanwhile, Brown and other Democrats are considering alternatives such as putting the tax extension measure on the ballot with a simple majority legislative vote or holding a ballot initiative campaign on the tax issue this fall (Sacramento Bee, 3/26).

In addition, Democrats believe that a spending cap would hurt the state's ability to pay for future expenses, such as expected increased demands for health care services (Yamamura, Sacramento Bee, 3/27).

Broadcast Coverage

Headlines and links to broadcast coverage of state budget negotiations are provided below.

Reader Comments:
  • 6
  • 03/29/2011
  • Robert Forster

Tim sounds angry and hurt and many American's are who sacrificed and produced for the "American dream." I believe Americans are compassionate and more than willing to be taxed for a SAFETY-NET for those needy and helpless, but not the clueless. It is difficult when progressives are able to legislate this mythology of social equity so that all programs are equal. Thus, with the explosion of eligibles and robust benefits with the relative naive tax payer unaware, the producers become the slaves of the non produces-and in this case I mean the clueless. 50% of the uninsured prior to 2009 were by choice/self insurance making over $80,000/yr--don't hear about that I bet. Yet the government will not tolerate that choice of self reliance. We are far down the road to self destruction economically and morally (look at our prison statistics) and my children and grandchilden will have to adapt to a NEW AMERICA. Vote down the tax extensions to force real reform. Rob MD

  • 5
  • 03/28/2011
  • Clark Norwood

Tim I am with you about people who have made conscious decisions to not plan for their own well being in the future. You still have not given any criteria for directing people to charities or family for financial help instead of allowing them to receive assistance from taxes and fees they have already paid into the system for these situations. Without putting forth any solutions you sound like an AM radio shock jock just screaming out into the airwaves.

  • 4
  • 03/28/2011
  • Tim Hanson

Hey Clark, if people can't take care of themselves, if people haven't saved enough money for the future, instead having squandered it on big screen TV's and fancy cars, it's not up to the rest of us, who are already having enough trouble taking care of ourselves, to help out. That's what charities are for!

  • 3
  • 03/28/2011
  • Clark Norwood

Hey Tim what concrete criteria do you propose to evaluate the productivity of a person in need? Are we to look only at the past two weeks of a persons life, two months, how far back do we go? Or perhaps at what earning level? $25K per year of earnings, $30K, $50k? Again where do we set the minimum income? Or do we use a scale of their contribution to society? Do we put a higher value on them if they work for a non-profit medical facility, perhaps no value if they work for the military industrial complex? We need details and a legal basis if we are to disenfranchise a large sector of the population.

  • 2
  • 03/28/2011
  • Tim Hanson

We must stop spending what we don't have, and stop providing benefits to those that don't deserve it. The poor, the sick, and the elderly are just too much of a strain on our economy, and we need to reduce those expenditures, and transfer the burden of taking care of the poor, the sick, and the elderly to charities.

The productive members of society can no longer be expected to pick up the cost of helping the non productive members.



Readers are invited to send feedback to: chl@chcf.org

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