Most Budget Complaints Won’t Fly
Legislators’ phones will be ringing, jangling and buzzing in Sacramento the next couple of days as advocates for every group convinced it got the short end of the budget stick will be trying to make a last-minute deal.
Mayors and county supervisors will be screaming about losing billions in transportation and redevelopment money, environmentalists will be up in arms about new offshore drilling, state workers will be arguing about their furloughs and progressive Democrats will be upset about … well, just about every cut and revision in the adjusted budget.
Most of those complaints will get a sympathetic hearing – “I feel your pain” – and then a polite but unmistakable brush-off. After two months of watching California’s finances move onto life support, only a handful of legislators – that’s you Assemblyman Sandre Swanson – are likely to vote down what could be the only chance to staunch the bleeding.
Here’s a single question for anyone upset about the budget revise: What’s your alternative?
My Interview with ‘The Can’
Every time a new budget agreement is passed, there’s a lot of talk about “Kicking the Can Down the Road.” I’ve long wondered: who exactly is The Can? And which road?
After considerable street-level reporting, I caught up with The Can at a gas station just off I-10 near the Arizona border. A transcript of our conversation follows.
Q: It’s a pleasure to meet you. How are you doing?
THE CAN: How do you think I’m doing? It’s hot here, man. And you may have noticed I’m a can and I’m made of metal. So you take this summer heat, and combine it with $1 billion in accelerated tax withholding and $1.7 billion in education spending deferrals, and you’ll forgive me if I’m feeling pretty beat up.
Q: Well, you know it’s bad times everywhere.
Who needs scientific data when extreme ideology abounds?
Would you trust your local baker to tune your car? Would you go to your barber for a physical? Probably not.
Normal people tend to seek out experts for needed services or advice. But not in Sacramento where it appears some politicians either fancy themselves as scientific experts – whether they have a science background or not – or they seek the advice from questionable sources in their push for extremist policies that adversely affect the everyday lives of Californians.
Senate Bill 797 (authored by Los Angeles Senators Fran Pavley and Carole Liu) exemplifies knee-jerk legislation based on irrational fear rather than sound scientific judgment. The measure would place a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) for products designed for infants and toddlers. The radical environmental lobby sponsoring the bill insists that BPA must be banned because the “science” proves its danger to humans.
It is the right time for the Hospital Provider Fee
The Allan Zaremberg article on the hospital provider fee, AB 1383 (Jones/Alquist) is both inaccurate and misleading. I am responding because the preservation of the health care safety net is at stake.
California hospitals lost $4 billion last year due to Medi-Cal underpayments—nearly double the losses since 2004. We rank 50th in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates (51st if we count the District of Columbia). Because California has been unable to meet the federal match requirements the state now leaves almost $2 billion federal dollars a year unclaimed. There is zero possibility of being able to meet the match in the foreseeable future. But there is an established process to bring those federal funds into California without cost to taxpayers, hospitals or patients.
Twenty two other states use the same hospital provider assessment proposed by AB 1383 to increase reimbursements. This is a cost effective, proven method to address the problem, with no cost to the general fund, to taxpayers, to patients or to hospitals.
Carpe Diem on Jobs!
It should come as no surprise that Los Angeles has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation — 11.5 percent, nearly two and half points higher than the national average. During the past year, more than 250,000 private sector jobs have been lost in L.A. County. But even before the recession, the L.A. five-county area has lost over 70 firms and nearly 16,400 jobs due to corporate relocation since 2005 according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. Even jobs in L.A.’s flagship industry — movie and television production — are down 13,800 compared to last year, largely due to runaway production as noted in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times. Now more than ever, we must improve L.A.’s business climate or risk losing the foundation that supports our jobs and livelihoods.
The L.A. Area Chamber and other business groups have long argued that L.A.’s business climate, unlike our weather, is not conducive to business growth and job creation. As one local executive wrote in the Wall Street Journal this weekend, Los Angeles “is fast becoming a job-killing machine.” It should pain every elected official and resident of Los Angeles to read these words. Unfortunately, the proof is in the pudding. L.A.’s business tax is among the highest in the state. The city’s permitting process is lengthy and cumbersome. Business regulations are frequently changed, making it difficult for businesses to plan for the future.