Speaking on behalf of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Gov. Pete Wilson said in a Saturday radio address that the state needs a law requiring government to ratchet down spending whenever the economy slows. Wilson, too, failed to pass a measure - Proposition 165 - that would have given him more budget-making authority back in 1992.
"It is terribly unwise to continue to allow the vast majority of state government spending to be driven by formulas and commitments that cannot be changed without legislative approval," Wilson said. "So we absolutely must put in place a mechanism that requires that money be reserved in robust years to pay for needed state services in bad times when revenues fall."
Wilson added that a mechanism should be installed requiring the build up of reserves during robust years in order to continue services during bad times. Such a move would help prevent "paralyzing fights at the Capitol over where to cut," he said.
The year Wilson sponsored Proposition 165, the Legislature had locked itself in a 64-day partisan fight that threatened to disrupt classrooms.
"Parents should not have to wonder every year whether budgets for their kids' schools will be slashed because the state didn't plan ahead," Wilson said.
