Governor Schwarzenegger released his revised May budget proposal for the 2010-11 budget year on Friday. It puts forward some very difficult cuts that are sadly necessary to bring spending in line with revenue and balance the budget.
I believe the May Revise should be seen as the starting point for serious budget discussions in the coming weeks. With a $20 billion budget deficit, it’s clear that we must achieve the same level of budget savings that the Governor has proposed, even if we have different ideas. It is my hope that Democrats will start working with Republicans today to craft the bipartisan balanced budget Californians are seeking by June 15th.
Speaker Pérez is right to call for more openness and transparency in the annual budget process. We should not be relying on the “Big 5” to negotiate state budgets in the middle of the night.
By the same token, it’s time to get serious about what we’re actually doing in legislative budget committee hearings. In order to pass an on-time, responsible budget, it is essential that the majority party commits themselves to honest and open budget discussions with Republicans.
This year, I’m working on my 14th state budget. During some of those years, I had a front row seat to budget negotiations as a member of the “Big 5” group of the Governor and the bipartisan legislative leaders.
Sadly, I have seen Democrats play the same budget game every year. They reject or dilute or proposed budget savings – whether proposed by a Democrat or Republican governor – and instead push for new programs and higher spending. Then they demand that taxpayers foot the bill through higher taxes. It’s no wonder that we have had massive deficits for so many years.
Too often during the budget committee process, we see the views of Republicans completely ignored. Routinely, budgets produced by the conference committee are partisan budgets written by Democrats that have no Republican input and stand no chance of passage.
Democrats say that over 50 budget committee and subcommittee hearings have been held this year. But in each one Republican input has been ignored. In recent weeks, Democrats held a budget road show, packing hearings in communities statewide with those who demand more spending and more taxes. They used these partisan hearings as a platform to demand higher taxes and spending.
If we are going to pass a responsible, balanced and on-time budget this year, it’s time for a few ground rules we all can follow. First, Republicans must be given a real voice in the process. Giving only lip service to Republican input and then producing a budget that ignores our ideas is not the way to bring the parties together to pass a responsible, on-time budget.
Budget negotiations must begin from the blueprint of the May Revise, not from scratch. Budget discussions must focus on the difficult choices required to bring spending in line with revenue this year given our state’s $19.1 billion deficit.
Most importantly, we must negotiate a budget with no new taxes. Raising taxes is the worst thing we could do to inspire more job creation and generate new tax revenue. Republicans have made it clear that we will not support new taxes. The Democrat proposals for $14 billion in higher income taxes, repealing job-creating tax incentives and imposing new taxes on oil production, parking spaces at work and the miles you drive, would only fund a long out-of-control and broken budget.
The clock is ticking. There are just 30 days until the June 15 deadline for the Legislature to pass a budget and 45 days until the June 30th deadline for the Governor to sign a budget, and significant work remains in the Legislature. It’s time for Democrats to work with Republicans with a greater sense of urgency. Now is the time for both parties to work together and make the tough choices about spending, and pass a responsible budget before time runs out.
Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, represents the 2nd Assembly District in the California Legislature.