Looking at it broadly, I think that the budget proposed by the Governor starts off the negotiating process from the right spot — which is with the premise that California taxpayers should not be punitively taxed to make up the budget shortfall.  There are a lot of innovative solutions being proposed which is critical given the funding shortfall.  This proposal recognizes that that the long term health of state government depends on an economic recovery.

With concern for the taxpayer being the top priority, there are concerns about the return of the tax on homeowners insurance, counting on new revenue from red light cameras, and the myriad of proposed "revenue increases" that appear on a list to potentially implement if the federal government does not kick in requested funds to balance the budget.

It is my hope that GOP lawmakers make it clear pretty quickly that the Governor is right when he says we need to live within our means, and that new taxes and fees (aka: "revenue increases") are not on the table, period.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.