Governor: Two “May Revise” Budgets Coming Thursday

By Joe Mathews

Journalist and Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation. He is co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (UC Press, 2010).

Mon, May 11th, 2009

Governor Schwarzenegger said Monday morning that he will release two revised budget proposals on Thursday to show voters the budget options, depending on whether the May 19 Special Election measures pass or fail.

The governor said one revised budget proposal would show the state spending plan in the event that all six measures pass; the other would show precisely what cuts he will propose if all the measures fail.

He said he was doing this “so that people have a clear understanding” of the situation. Schwarzenegger made this announcement after a meeting with local government officials from around Southern California at the Culver City Senior Center.

UPDATE -- Governor's office clarifies: The official May revise release is May 28. But they are going to release two "summaries" -- one if the measures pass, one if they fail -- on Thursday.

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Submitted by Jeff Reid (not verified) on Mon, 05/11/2009 - 17:16.

The Governor is being disengenous, again. If he had actually had the intellectual and public policy rigor to issue two versions of a May Revise, that would be outstanding. But, he doesn't. In fact, the budget deal, by specific legislative act, deferred the standard May Revise from May 15 until After the election, just so they wouldn't ahve to engage in that type of rigor. If 1A and 1B fail, that is no impact on this year's budget or next year's budget. So, the Governor is apparently willing to continue to use scare tactics and deception. It will be interesting to see whether he admits on Thursday that he will have to cut even if 1C, 1D and 1E pass. Those only account for $6B. We are otherwise already upside down at least $6B (the $8B in reduced revenues identified by the LAO, net of the previously estimated 2009-2010 "surplus").

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