This is quite related to Dave’s earlier post, but the fact that we have taken in $2.1 bn less than we expected since the budget deal is rather scary.
California has received $2.1 billion less this year in tax revenues than projected in the February budget, according to State Controller John Chiang.
In April alone, the state’s General Fund revenues were down $1.89 billion, 16 percent below what the February budget projected. Personal income taxes were down $1.06 billion, corporate taxes were down $831 million and sales taxes were down $108 million.(SacBee 5/8/09)
This is in addition to the $8 billion estimated already by the LAO, so we’re looking at something over $10 billion now.
Prop 1A would not help this problem whatsoever, as it does not add any revenue for the next two years.
Yes, that is true. However, I am somewhat dismayed by the tone of the disagreements on the propositions among the those that might usually agree on most issues and as I beleive Brian Leubitz and John Burton have pointed out earlier that once this election is over, we are going to once again have to work together.
Yes, I am supporting the initiatives. I do not see another choice at this time. I know there is a belief that if these measures fal, we might better fight for a simple majority budget vote or Republicans in the Legislature will not let the state “go under” and accept a deal with more progressive taxes or the Governor will be forced to sign the majority vote fees that he vetoed earlier in the year or that the failures of the propositions will force the fundamental change we need to see to make the governmental financial system work in a more functional fashion now.
We now the polls do not show support for the 2/3rds vote position to be changed today. We need to educate voters on on the simple majority budget vote and John Burton has made it one of his prioritues to see such a measure on the 2010 ballot; Republicans that supported the May 19 measures are being recalled, losing leadership positions and being pilloried by their supporters, so, if the measures do not pass, whre is the incentive for them to support any kind of deal we believe to be a better one, possibly the Governor would not veto a majority fee revenue hike, but there is no certainty to that and finally, even if the falures of the propositions do bring an earlier change in the fundamental system of government finance, it does so (because it will still take time) at the expense of cutting into programs that will certainly affect constituencies we care about, such as the possible lessening or even dismantling of the in-home support care services program, which is a priority of Republicans (the dismantling).
I just do not see where we find 3 Republican votes in the Assembly and 2 votes in the Sneate if we go back to the drawing board.
What I beleive these measures do is get us to a point where we MIGHT be able to get to the other side of the economic/budget crisis doing the least amount of harm to the most vulnerable among us and during that time, we can then work on getting more Democrats elected to the Legislature since the best way to deal with this dysfunction would be to have 54 Democrats and 27 Democrats, work on removing the 2/3rds requirement and possibly adopting other budget reforms via a constitutional revision or commission where we could actually address the issue of Prop 1A and the spending cap, such as it is, in a more cohesive and cogent fashion.
Sorry for the run-on sentences and the long paragraphs, but I wanted to get this off my chest before the 19th and the possibility of glee coming from the results no matter what they might be.
It is time to play hardball. I read that a recall petition against Schwartz had been qualified and was at the SOS office. Anyone can gather signatures for this petition.
Democratic leaders should just tell Schwartz that if he doesn’t go along with the majority-rule fee swap they’ll support the recall. The alternative is just to destroy the state, since the Reps have announced they will never support new taxes. Why should the Democrats “compromise”, when the
only compromise is a complete capitulation to Republican demands? And Schwartz is a movie actor–the last thing he wants is to bomb at the box office. He’ll cave.
As for the fee swap, turn the gas tax into a fee and then raise taxes on oil severance, corporations, and the top 1%. That’s it. No broad-based taxes to “share the burden”. The burden has all been on the poor and the middle class in the last 30 years and they know it. Obama’s pledge to lower taxes on 95% of the American public innoculated him–the Democrats pledge not to raise taxes on the bottom 99% will be overwhelmingly supported by the public.