In response to Jennifer Nelson’s post below, the Governor’s office has responded. Below is a brief commentary from David Crane, Special Advisor to Governor Schwarzenegger on Jobs and the Economy…
Today, the Pooled Money Investment Board had to shut off financing to public works projects because of the Legislature’s failure to act on the revenue shortfall. The Governor has been pushing for quick action since income tax revenues suddenly dropped. It’s because Legislative Democrats and Republicans can’t come together to find common ground in making up for this sudden revenue loss that tens of thousands of Californians face the possibility of layoffs this holiday season.As far as the Governor’s record on budget reform goes, from day one of his administration he sought changes to California’s budget system and despite numerous obstacles, has never stopped trying to pass meaningful reform. This last year he succeeded in passing budget reform that will create the sturdy and sizable rainy-day fund the state has long needed, and more recently established with the Legislature a commission under Gerry Parsky to immediately address by April 15th the fundamental issue, which is the state’s reliance on excessively-volatile revenues.
Therein lies the reason for your faulty analysis: the sudden decline in revenues occasioned by that tax system, not excessive spending, is the cause of the current deficit. Math is hard to argue with. You’re right that leadership isn’t easy, but Governor Schwarzenegger has shown exactly the type of leadership that tough times demand – honest, responsible, and determined to succeed.
December 18th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Exactly how does the governor expect Californians to pay for this “sudden decline in revenues”? The reason there has been a decline in the amount of taxes collected is because Californians are experiencing their “decline in revenues”! The governor and democrats act as if people have just decided to not pay their taxes or hold back what they usually send to Sacramento. The people don’t have the money to send you, so STOP SPENDING WHAT YOU DON”T HAVE!