No on Prop 1A
By MICHAEL HALEY
Proposition 1A is the key ballot measure being placed before the voters in May to address the state budget debacle. I am opposed to it because it does not address the problems facing the state budgets and will amount to nothing more than continuing the same dysfunctional government.
The proposition itself is becoming mired in controversy because of the way the ballot language was written. It does not even mention that it raises taxes, but in fact it not only raises taxes but it adds another year or two to the original two years of temporary tax increases that the voters were told was the budget deal. That is no where to be seen in the ballot language. This has been done purposely by the Governor and top legislative leaders in order to mislead the voters.
The taxes that will be raised include a quarter percentage point added to each income tax bracket, (i.e. the highest 10.3% bracket will become 10.55%), a one cent sales tax increase, and a near doubling of the car tax, or vehicle license fee, raising it from .65% of the value of the vehicle to 1.15%. Also, deductions for children will be decreased.
These taxes were already passed by the legislature in the 2009 budget deal. If Prop 1A passes, then those taxes will be extended, the sales tax by one year, the other two for two years.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/public-display-051909/1a-lao.pdf <http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/public-display-051909/1a-lao.pdf>
It is written to make voters think that it is about putting in place a spending cap, but the cap is so high that it will never make any difference. This was all to get the unions not to fight it, but as reform it is meaningless.
http://www.flashreport.org/featured-columns-library0b.php?faID=2009030610382253
I think most of us, myself included, realize we have to help the state get out of this mess and may be ready to swallow some tax increases, especially if they are temporary and not too onerous. The real problem with this is that it won’t get us out of this mess, and does absolutely nothing to change our long term problems.
Regardless of what one might think of the particulars of Obama’s budget plans, they do address long term problems and if it all works out there is a good chance that we will have a better future in store for us.
Not so with the state budget plans. Rather than use this crisis to take the bull by the horns and make changes that have been long needed and frankly are very obvious, they are once again trying to duck the issue and kick the can down the road. We could do this state budget and find ourselves right back in trouble in less than two years.
The real problem is that spending on compensation for state employees has skyrocketed over the last eight years, with spending on pensions for safety at the top of the excessive list. The bulk of California’s budget problems can be traced back to compensation rising faster, in many cases much faster, than the growth in the economy. There are numerous statistics that support this, many of which I have written about before.
The San Francisco Chronicle stated that state payroll has soared under Schwarzenegger, going up 37% in the last four years alone. The number of workers making over 200K was eight in Nov. 2003, just four years later it was clocked at 1000 and rising fast. The professional engineers got over a 12% increase each of the last two years. You have prison guards now making more than the Governor. The numbers like this just go on and on, regular annual raises well above the rate of inflation.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/25/MNI610S459.DTL&hw=prison+guard+salaries&sn=001&sc=1000 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/25/MNI610S459.DTL&hw=prison+guard+salaries&sn=001&sc=1000>
The real answer is that the state ought to be putting on ballot initiatives to get out from under the $8 billion for medical in prisons, cap pensions at 70% or less, raise retirement ages to reflect current reality, freeze raises for two years for anyone making over 100k, etc, etc.
This would be far preferable to temporary layoffs and cuts in services, and would have the effect of making a permanent reduction in the budget as future raises would be starting from a lower base.
This would be an ideal time to address these compensation problems, with high taxpayer awareness and constant newspaper articles and editorials about it. But guess what, not a single word about it out of the mouths of our Governor or any of our legislators. Why?
Because that would make the employee unions unhappy. No one, even the press, is talking about their huge role in this budget agreement. What does that tell you? That they are calling all the shots, not our state government.
But what is the state government doing? Temporarily cutting SSI checks, cutting home health care for the poor, cutting social services across the board, and most of all cutting a total of about $10 billion out of the $15 billion in cuts from education.
http://www.dof.ca.gov/budget/historical/2009-10/documents/Budget_Agreement_Full-Package-w.pdf
The reforms we need are simple and this is an opportune time to do it, and voters in this state should demand that real reforms take place now. The place to start is voting down this scam of a budget deal.
What will happen if the voters vote it down? Is it scary to contemplate? No, do not fear, the state will not go away. First of all the two years of taxes are already passed. Beyond that what will happen is that an assessment will be made of why the voters voted against it.
If the reason is that voters like myself demand more realistic long term budget changes they will be forced to address them.
We actually have an incredible opportunity here to make huge positive changes in the way that California does business. We absolutely must get structural reform, this budget assures that the annual $6 billion deficit will continue to accumulate. Voters need to send a message about what they want, and they will get action. Let’s start by voting no on Prop 1A.
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