Here is the Legislative Analyst’s estimate of future structural budget deficits in the unlikely event that the Legislature adopts all the Governor’s May Revision proposals:
That is: $4 billion to $7 billion operating deficits after
eliminating CalWorks and child care programs, reducing grants for poor
aged, blind and disabled, reducing state worker pay by 15 percent,
cutting billions from schools, sending thousands of inmates to county
jails, begging more billions from the federal government, and borrowing
every nickel possible from special funds.
If any of these cuts don’t happen, the bars grow longer. If the
Legislature phonies-up phantom revenues, gimmicks or one-time savings,
the bars grow longer. If the Legislature adopts temporary tax
increases, the bars grow longer. If permanent tax increases stifle
economic recovery, the bars grow longer.
As former Senator Jim Brulte remarked recently, the fact that any of
these individuals wants to be Governor should disqualify them from the
job.