The budget deal that came out of the legislature was a missed opportunity. Taxpayers will have to pay increased taxes but will not get enough in return.
What is missing is a comprehensive package of structural reforms including eliminating or consolidating overlapping departments and high-paying political commissions — limiting stipends for members of necessary commissions to $150 per meeting. Also needed is a 2-year state budget, a part-time legislature and abolishing term limits.
Imposing one of the highest tax rates in the nation is a tax-and-spend orgy that further drives businesses, individuals and jobs out of state. It is also another raw deal for County and state taxpayers who are currently subsidizing excessive state spending, government growth, entitlement programs and over $1 billion a year in benefits for illegal aliens in Los Angeles County.
While there are some positive elements to the package such as an effort to control spending and to encourage business, particularly incentives to keep more movie shoots in their home grounds of Los Angeles County and all of California, in the end this package did not add up for the taxpayers.