We here at the FlashReport are pleased to present this Guest Commentary, submitted by the Governor’s office, authored by David Crane. Mr. Crane is a Special Advisor to the Governor for Jobs and the Ecomony. Governor Schwarzenegger has called a special session of the legislature to deal with an $11.2 billion shortfall in the current fiscal year budget. He has introduced a plan to deal with this problem that contains billions of dollars in both cuts and new taxes. Crane discusses the Governor’s proposal below. You can read the Governor’s proposal as it was presented here (you can even watch a video of the Governor presenting his plan).
$11.2 BILLION SHORTFALL REQUIRES A TOUGH COURSE OF ACTION – MORE CUTS AND NEW TAXES
David Crane, Special Advisor to the Governor for Jobs and the Economy
Yesterday, the Governor delivered the news that California faces a $11.2 billion revenue shortfall in the current year’s budget. The dramatic declines of Wall Street and real estate markets have so affected our capital-gains-dependent revenue that we must take emergency measures to address this urgent problem.
Our tax system’s dependence on capital gains and other non-stable sources of revenue is the basis of the budget problem we face today, and that we have faced for decades, and that’s why the Governor and the Legislature have established a bipartisan commission to modernize our tax system. But the commission’s recommendations will not be made until April 15, 2009 and the current year shortfall requires immediate attention, right now.
There are no easy solutions. The Governor’s proposal takes a balanced approach to address the shortfall, proposing $4.5 billion in cuts to spending and $4.7 billion in increased revenues, paired with a foreclosure abatement and economic stimulus package to stabilize our housing market and boost employment.
**There is more – click the link**
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Oi is all well and good to modernize our tax system, but that will only do half the job. We also need to modernize our spending system. Starting with the realization that automatic gowth in spending in ANY program area is suicidal. Sounds like zero baseline to me.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I have two words for you and your boss Mr Crane, but in the interest of keeping it clean on FR I will refrain. Just know that there is a special place in political hell for Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenneger who raise taxes over 20% while we’re in a severe recession and then has the gall to say that we don’t have a spending problem anymore. He is a LIAR.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Arnold has pissed off the left and the right of our state. Fiscally the governor is off the reservation of common sense.
Has our governor learned that the Wilson tax increases retarded our state’s recovery from the 1991 recession?
People are going to buy less if we increase taxes. We have to promote spending.
November 7th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Dear Mr Crane… GO F YOURSELF!!! Sincerely the productive hardworking taxpayers of California.
November 8th, 2008 at 12:00 am
“There are no easy solutions.” BS, ratchet spending down to where it should be if it had been restrained to the rate of inflation and population growth, and if that doesn’t close the gap, cut bureaucracy in Sacramento.