Denying Votes on Reforms Causes Budget Impasse
In trying to determine if
a deal to put a spending limit and pension reforms on the ballot in exchange
for placing tax extensions on the ballot were possible, I spoke with a few
people knowledgeable in California politics on my flight to Sacramento
yesterday. The answer I received: the public unions would not let it happen.
Hours later, five Senate Republicans (Tom Berryhill, Sam Blakeslee, Anthony
Cannella, Bill Emmerson and Tom Harman) issued a letter sent to Governor Jerry
Brown saying that budget negotiations were at an impasse. The senators were
seeking the type of reforms that are needed to move the state past perennial
budget deficits: spending limits, pension reform and business reforms.
The latter is important because as Capitol veteran and author of California’s
Tax Machine, Dave Doerr, reminded me later in the day, more money is
brought into the treasury from economic growth than has ever come by way of a
tax increase.
While Governor Brown put off his deadline for qualifying a measure for the
ballot to see if he can get the votes he needs, it appears those interests that
support increased spending do not want the people to vote on specific reforms.
The senators addressed this in their letter to the governor when they stated:
"We have therefore concluded that you are unable to compel other stakeholders
to accept real reform."
LA City Council’s Election Day Outrage — $930 Million Worth of Reasons to Vote Them Out of Office
Cross-posted at RonKayeLA.
Taking their contempt for the public and the law to new heights, Los Angeles city leaders will carry out an election day theft of nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money, jeopardizing the governor’s budget-balancing plan and running roughshod over even the pretense of deliberative processes.
The CRA Board — at a special meeting called with just 24 hours notice — unanimously approved Monday some $100 million in projects and deals to cement them in stone just three days in advance of Gov. Jerry Brown’s deadline for the Legislature to put his budget plan — spending cuts, tax extensions and abolishing the 400 community redevelopment agencies across California.
At the same time, State Controller John Chiang released a scathing audit of the LA CRA and 17 other CRAs in the state finding "reporting flaws, substandard audits, questionable payment practices
and an inappropriate use of affordable housing funds, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The report also
found no clear methodology or data to measure claims of job creation or other economic benefits to the state.
“I’m From The Government, And I’m Here To Help”
(click to view full size)I am not here to defend the City of Vernon. They have enough people handling this for
them and the issues has already drawn enough of its own attention. Nevertheless, the issues with Vernon are
representative of other issues with Sacramento that deserve attention. How can any rational person look straight
into the camera and say with a straight face that handing over Vernon to the
County of Los Angeles won’t have a negative economic impact on the 50,000 jobs
and the families that depend on them?
The Long and Winding Road Back to California Payroll Job Levels
The state job numbers announced last Friday showed a net
payroll job gain of 12,500 jobs. This is not a lot compared to total California payroll jobs of
nearly 14 million. However, this job gain constituted nearly 20% of the 63,000
net payroll jobs added throughout the entire United States.
We are likely on the road back to payroll job growth in
California, though it will be a long and winding road, given the extent of
payroll job losses since 2006 of over 1.4 million payroll jobs, and the
obstacles ahead. Beginning on the plus side, several sectors that have been
struggling showed growth, particularly construction and manufacturing.