California Democrats pass a phony state budget for one reason: So they can get paid | Opinion
The budget for the coming fiscal year adopted by the California Legislature Thursday will likely not survive the weekend, and for good reason. The approved spending plan was not a viable one. The purpose of an unserious budget seems clear: By meeting a constitutional deadline on June 15, Sacramento politicians will continue to get paid even though they have not done their jobs.
The heavy lifting has yet to happen, and negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom will continue.
The Democrat-controlled Legislature started with a pretty rosy proposal from Newsom on how much money Sacramento can expect to spend starting July 1. Their solution was to make things even rosier. They magically grew general fund revenues by $2 billion, and spending grew by $3 billion.
Artificially growing the budget was officially in the name of “protecting the progress of recent years and continuing the state’s responsible budgeting practices,” according to a self-serving state senate analysis. In truth, the Legislature achieved precisely the opposite.
As The Bee’s Editorial Board said at the beginning of this process, a successful budget has to be far more effective at cutting duplicative spending and taking advantage of revenue opportunities in order to truly be in balance. The Legislature did neither.
It was laudable that the Legislature has sought to earmark more funds to prevent public transit agencies struggling in the post-Covid era from financial crises. The same goes for the impulse to invest more in education, child care and health care for low-income Californians as well as climate change, as the Legislature did.
It only becomes real when the actual numbers on both sides of the ledger are real.
One note of caution as talks in Sacramento hopefully get more serious: Newsom, while he may be not-so-subtly laying the groundwork to someday seek the office, is not yet president. President Joe Biden and Congress can solve their budget problems by essentially printing more money. Newsom cannot.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office has issued a strong warning to be cautious about how much revenue Sacramento will be receiving, particularly from income taxes in this unpredictable economy. Of course California should be optimistic about its future, but Sacramento needs to be realistic about the next state budget.
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This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 11:30 AM.