We’ve said here a few times that the budget plan is really neither a budget nor a plan.  Well, seeing as there really isn’t an idea of how to make the numbers meet, the words just don’t seem very descriptive. Most glaringly on this front is the $917 million  (give or take a million … or twenty …) that the Legislature didn’t include in the slew of budget bills they passed.  These included the Tranquillion ridge oil drilling project and the borrowing of gas tax funds from localities.

So, now the bills are in the hot little hands of our governor, action hero wannabe Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Under the rag that is our state constitution, Schwarzenegger now has the opportunity to make some cuts through line item vetos. Thing is, that he’s only given a few hints as to where he is going to act. Yesterday, his peeps indicated that there won’t be a fourth furlough day, as apparently that is even a bridge too far or something like that.

“A fourth furlough day will not be part of the solution,” Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said. “It’s not something the governor’s considering.”

Of the line-item vetoes McLear added, “It’s unlikely we’ll be able to come up with cuts equal to the $1.1 billion, but we’ll get as close as we can. It’s important for us have as big a reserve as possible.” (SacBee 7/27/09)

But, where will he cut? With the constitutional protections under Prop 98, it really can’t be much in the way of K-14 education. That, of course leaves a big bullseye over health spending. Anthony Wright, a friend of this blog and the head honcho at Health Access, is quite concerned:

Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, said he fears Schwarzenegger could further eliminate a block funding grant that pays for Healthy Families low-cost medical insurance for children. The program is already slated to lose $124 million.

Wright and other social service advocates suggested Monday that Schwarzenegger could face limits in what he can veto because the package of 27 bills constitute a series of budget reductions, rather than the spending approvals in February’s full budget act. (SacBee 7/28 09)

At this point, we really don’t know much about where he’s going with these cuts, but we should expect news soon.  Either way, some program is going to be decimated in the short term. The Legislature will then attempt to find some way to patch the leak, likely without much success.  This is how things work now in Sacramento. It’s the new normal.