Normally, half a loaf is better than none, but under the Capitol dome that kind of logic does not always work.  Over the last few days the Democrats have offered a solution to the short-term cash flow crisis but not to the on-going problem of overspending.  The Republicans are split, with some advocating the partial solution then returning to the issue of a long-term fix while others argue that the problem is so acute that we do not have the luxury of time to address the problem incrementally.  Earlier I was on the side of those suggesting that we agree on what is offered and come back for more debate on the rest of the problem.

However, Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter), who is Majority Leader, brought me up short.  During the debate on Friday about the short-term measures, he argued eloquently that preventing the state from issuing IOU warrants was the most important item before the Legislature, and since everyone agreed that the proposed bills would cut spending enough to cover the cash gap, they should be adopted now.  Then he shocked me with way too much disclosure of the Democrat strategy by saying that the structural deficit and the imbalance of the current year budget and next year’s budget will NOT be resolved while he remains in office.  He is termed out November 30, 2010.  The Senate majority has no plans to resolve this endemic problem now and apparently do not plan on addressing it until at least 2011.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.