quote:

Budget analysis: Almost never on time and no one can agree why
By Dan Smith
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, May 11, 2008

The state budget will be late again this year, barring some fiscal or political force that has yet to assert itself.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who will offer a revised plan Wednesday, says the soft economy has contributed to a gap between expected revenues and expenditures that could reach $20 billion for the year beginning July 1 – about a fifth of the $101 billion plan he proposed in January.

But that isn't necessarily the only reason the budget probably will be tardy.

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Various voter-approved budget rules, notably the constitutional guarantee for minimum school funding, limit policymakers' choices for cuts. Other ballot measures largely protect transportation funds and local government payments.

Some of the rules can be suspended – with enough votes in the Legislature – but those decisions can be politically perilous, particularly if they take on a powerful special interest, such as public school teachers.

Lawmakers are calendar-challenged: They have more than five months from the unveiling of the governor's proposal in January until the June 15 deadline but never seem to get down to real work on the big decisions until the proposal is revised in May based on April tax returns and updated spending estimates.

Legislative leaders counter that economic projections can change dramatically between the holidays and income tax season and they need to wait to make choices with more precision. In the meantime, they say, budget subcommittees review dozens of programs in the governor's proposal.

Court decisions through the years have ordered the state to pay most school expenses, health and welfare programs required by federal law and state employee payrolls even without an approved budget.

That reduces the political consequences for tardiness, making it easier for legislators to hold out through the summer based on ideology and encouraging brinkmanship.

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Originally posted by sldghamr:
here's two ideas for balancing the budget:
1. cut funding to the Illegals
2. cut the pay of politicians to less than 100K a year

quote:

Originally posted by The Big Dog:
* We, the taxpayers, are screwed