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Editorial: Bring down the curtain
Budget Kabuki is no substitute for work
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B6
Enough with the dueling press releases. Enough with the town hall meetings. Enough with the cheesy staged events designed to put pressure on the other party to close a budget deal.
This show of Capitol Kabuki is getting old.
The clock is ticking on California's legislative leaders to close a $15.2 billion deficit for the fiscal year that started – that's right, started – July 1. If Democrats and Republicans can't reach a responsible resolution by the ides of August, the state could run out of money or watch Wall Street further trash its ability to sell bonds.
State leaders risk serious consequences by either raising taxes or cutting programs by billions of dollars. But they also risk much by avoiding the tough decisions. California has the second-worst credit rating among states in the country. If state leaders close a budget deal with accounting gimmicks and short-term raids on state funds, credit agencies say they will likely further downgrade the state's borrowing status, making it harder and more expensive to sell bonds for roads, schools and other essential needs.
Neither side appears to be very alarmed by the consequences. Nor do the state's constitutional officers, including Treasurer Bill Lockyer.
Republicans insist that the $15.2 billion gap must be closed through cuts, not taxes, but they won't detail what those cuts should be. Democrats are understandably frustrated, but are resorting to PR silliness that only deepens the divide.
Over the weekend, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Assemblyman Warren Furutani, D-Gardena, announced they will hold a town hall meeting in Carson on July 29 "to get Republicans to end their blockade of the state budget."
Enough already. Republicans can't blockade anything the Democrats haven't brought up for a vote. Bass would be wise to spend the next week in close talks with Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines and their counterparts in the Senate. Every minute devoted to press releases and town hall meetings is time wasted, and political capital squandered.
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