Much has been written about the Governor’s radical shift in abandoning his dual pledges to “blow up the boxes” and “tear up the credit cards.”
We believed Arnold Schwarzenegger then: electing him twice and passing Propositions 57 & 58 – giving him $15 billion to fix the budget and supposedly put a lid on state over-spending.
And, when running for his first re-election, Schwarzenegger called for support from voters, saying "Help Governor Schwarzenegger protect the California dream – with no new taxes!"
But the “dream” is quickly turning into a fiscal nightmare.
People are struggling with the multiple crises of dramatically increased energy and food costs, the housing slump, and the real risk of recession. Meanwhile, the Governor is now proposing raising the sales tax and Legislative Democrats are pushing to eliminate the child tax credit.
Instead of taking the opportunity to blow up some boxes or create long term reforms that would save taxpayer dollars, every budget seems like just mild tweak of past budget, full of accounting gimmicks and back door taxes (or this year’s out-right tax increase.)
Whatever happened to the California Performance Review? Wasn’t it supposed to help the Governor move the state towards smarter, more efficient government?
Since the CPR report is gathering dust in some government office, I’ll offer a few facts — and some areas where better management, more oversight or tough prosecution could save taxpayers billions of dollars – this year, and every year in the future.
- Governing Magazine ranked California second to LAST on money management.
- A December 2004 report by the Bureau of State Audits blamed CalTrans mismanagement for $3.2 billion in cost overruns – just for the Toll Bridge Retrofit Program.
- Haphazard and inefficient management resulted in the state’s inability to find 30,000 state-owned motor vehicles.
- On December 26, 2002, The LA Times reported that Medi-Cal fraud costs taxpayers about $2.5 billion a year.
- The Los Angeles County 1999 Grand Jury reported that welfare fraud costs taxpayers as much as $500 million a year.
- The Sacramento Bee (July 31, 2003) reported skyrocketing unemployment insurance claim fraud totaling $280 million in 2002 alone.
- University of California employees last year received $871 million in bonuses, administrative stipends, relocation packages and other forms of cash compensation – on top of salaries and overtime pay. $599 million went to more than 8,500 employees who each got at least $20,000 over their regular salaries.
Accounting gimmicks and PR stunts won’t solve problems in California, blow up any boxes or create a legacy for Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Tax increases will push jobs to other states, allow the state to continue overspending – and it will make life a little bit harder for California families.
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