Practically lost in the shuffle of last week's news was the passage of the California state budget--balanced and on time. The legislature met the constitutional June 15 deadline a day early on Friday, June 14, then convened a rare Saturday session on the 15th to pass the "trailer bills" needed to implement the $96 billion spending blueprint.
This is a big deal. The state budget had not been passed on time for thirty years before this. For decades, state employees and many local government workers like police and teachers had not known for months whether their jobs would continue or they would be furloughed, losing indeterminate amounts of their income. People depending on services would not know whether those services would be there for them when needed. Businesses would twist in limbo for months, uncertain about whether things like water and transportation would be available and at what rates, or whether their contracts would be continued, reduced or cancelled.
But this year things went swimmingly. I'm predicting they will continue to do so most of the time from now on. Credit for this happy state of affairs goes primarily to two deserving recipients: the voters of California and Governor Jerry Brown. The legislature gets a little provisional credit, which is contingent on how they do next year.
Here's the explanation:
The people get major credit for passing Proposition 25, the Majority Vote Budget Initiative, in November, 2010 by a 55%-45% margin. The initiative made California the 48th state able to pass its budget by a majority vote of the legislature. It had required a 2/3 vote up to then. No longer could the Republican minority hold up the budget's passage with 30 votes out of 80 in the Assembly or 15 out of 40 in the Senate. Prop 25 also provided the additional incentive that the legislators' paychecks would be withheld and they would be docked for every day it was late.
The voters also get big credit for helping actually balance the budget by passing Proposition 30 in November 2012. The extra revenue made a balanced budget a realistic feasibility by raising $7-9 billion in revenue with a 1/2 cent sales tax hike and a 1% to 3% increase in upper-level income taxes. In the past, the Republican minority would insist on tax cuts in exchange for having a couple of their legislators vote for the budget. The resulting revenue cut would put the budget out of balance and necessitate more cuts the next year. It actually put the minority in charge of the budget process, since they could hold the majority hostage with just a few votes.
Governor Jerry Brown deserves a lot of credit too. He has refused to let the legislature get away with passing on time but unbalanced budgets, as they attempted to do in 2012. Brown refused to sign that budget and Controller John Chiang held up their paychecks until a real budget was sent to the governor's desk. This year, thanks to his firm stand last time, the lawmakers thus knew Brown meant business and they passed a real balanced budget actually on time. Brown's insistence on making the tough cuts necessary built not only credibility with the legislators, but trust with the voters, who then helped out by raising their own taxes to close the rest of the gap.
It's a real success story of intelligent steps taken by the people combined with firm leadership at the top of state government. Two thumbs up for a job well done!
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