Looking Back: From Stickers to WIN Buttons; and From Lockyer to Reagan
Who remembers the WIN Button from the Ford
Administration? The WIN button campaign came to mind in reading the new effort
devised by the California State Employees Association Retirees to place
stickers on checks that read: "Paid by State Retiree."
WIN stood for Whip Inflation Now. In attempting
to bring inflation under control, President Gerald Ford and his advisors came
up with a campaign of both mandatory and voluntary measures to encourage the
public to engage in disciplined spending habits and personal savings. A public
relations campaign featuring WIN buttons was created to accompany the effort.
The buttons did little to change economic
habits. They quickly became the object of ridicule and some people wore the
button upside down saying the acronym "NIM" stood for: "No Immediate Miracles."
The state retirees want you to know the value
their spending power has on California’s economy. The effort is built on the back of a CalPERS
sponsored study recently released that claims public employee pension payments
have a $26 billion effect on statewide economic activity.
June 2012 spending cap measure will stop budget gimmicks
Treasurer Bill Lockyer told reporters last week that a proposed state
spending cap on next June’s ballot is unusually restrictive and will force a
significant downsizing of government – and especially higher education.
The Treasurer is a keen observer of and among the
most experienced and knowledgeable players in state budget policy and politics.
But on this issue he’s wrong.
Mr. Lockyer was referring to ACA 4, a proposed constitutional amendment placed
on the June, 2012, ballot by the Legislature. The measure aims to accomplish
two goals: create and enforce a Rainy Day fund for the state’s budget, and
require that unforeseen revenue spikes be spent for one-time purposes and not
added to the general spending base.
Far from "spelling doom" for key programs, ACA 4 will
protect them from irresponsible short-term budget gimmicks.
What the GOP Needs to Get for Giving Up Two-Thirds
If Tony Quinn is right, the Democrats may get a two-thirds
supermajority in the Assembly next year.
This
possibility should focus the Republican mind. Now is the time for the GOP to
press for a constitutional reform deal. Republicans have a big card that they
should give up for good reason – the two thirds requirements for raising taxes
or fees. But they shouldn’t just give it up. They need to get something very
specific in return.
What should
that be?
The
reflexive would likely start with: at the very least "a real spending limit and
pension reform." Republicans, those are fool’s gold. Spending limits are
totally unpredictable – you don’t know how they’ll work, or not work as they
interact with all the other spending and tax formulas in California. (See the
Gann spending limit and a host of other spending restrictions passed over the
past 30 years). And the pension reform that Republicans want is unlikely to
last because it is based on a two-tiered system, with less generous retirements
for new state employees than old ones. Two-tiered systems are inherently
unstable. When the good economic times return, they inevitably revert to
one-tier systems.
A Temporary Tax That Never Went Away
California taxpayers are celebrating a rare victory. Despite Democrat efforts to extend them, the sweeping “temporary” tax increases of 2009 have gone away. This is an uncommon treat, as many prior tax hikes sold as “temporary” are still with us today.
As Californians enjoy the benefits of this victory, this month also marks the 20th anniversary of a prior sales tax increase that is still with us. On July 15, 1991 Californians were impaled with a "temporary" sales tax increase of 1.25%. This measure was enacted by the Legislature to address the state budget shortfall during the early 1990s economic downturn.
Fast forward to June of this year. A 2009 sales tax rate increase of 1% was set to expire on July 1, 2011. Despite a vote of the people against extending this and other temporary tax increases, Governor Jerry Brown and Democrat legislators unsuccessfully sought a five year extension of these taxes.
Death Penalty Foes’ Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle
State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, is pushing legislation to end California’s death penalty. "Capital punishment is an expensive failure and an example of the dysfunction of our prisons," she explained in a statement. "California’s Death Row is the largest and most costly in the United States. It is not helping to protect our state; it is helping to bankrupt us."
You have to hand this to death-penalty opponents: For decades, capital punishment opponents have tried to thwart California’s 1978 death-penalty law with frivolous appeals that clog courts, delay punishment and burn through taxpayers’ dollars. They now have been so successful that they can argue that California’s death penalty doesn’t work and costs too much.
Hancock is right about the dysfunction. Since 1978, California has executed 13 inmates, even though juries have sent close to 800 to Death Row. California’s lethal-injection protocol has been on hold since February 2006 when U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel stayed the execution of convicted rapist/murderer Michael Morales lest Morales suffer any pain.