Sep 23 2009
Why voters share the blame for the “broke” state
California should rename itself. It should be renamed the “broke” state. No longer is California the “golden” state - it is simply the broke state.
California is broke in two ways. We are broken because the state cannot function. If you need any more proof of the state’s inability to function - think back to this last legislative session and the lack of progress on water issues. Water is a basic human need. For California, it is a huge need. However, the people elected to run this state cannot fix the problem. The state is broken.
The state is also broke in terms of money. There simply is no more. Professors at the UC and CSU systems are protesting over cuts. Where would they like the money taken from? The seniors? The children? Elementary education? While everyone would like there to be more money, the simply fact is - there is no more.
The voters are partially to blame for this broke state. It is the voters that have approved numerous ballot propositions that have tied the hands of politicians. The two largest are Prop. 13 (no raising property taxes beyond a certain amount each year) and Prop. 98 (which guarantees a minimal level of funding, each year, to the K-14 education system - it amount to approximately 50% of the General Fund).
The voters continually approve bonds - which require the General Fund to make payments on the interest of those bonds every year. Each time a bond is approved, the debt level for the state rises, and the obligations to pay back those bonds take more money out of the General Fund. This is money that could be used for other things, except now it is paying bond debt.
Voters have also mandated certain things through the initiative process. It was an initiative that reinstated the death penalty. The death penalty means the prisoners on death row cost more than 5 times what it costs, per day, for an average inmate. It was an initiative that put the three-strikes law into effect. These are all things that cost money. These are all things that are voter approved.
It is true that voters approve these things because the elected leaders do not seem to be taking care of business. The elected leaders are off fundraising while a budget deal is needed, or making sure their district has enough pork funding - while there are kids being taken off Healthy Families because of a shortage of funds. The situation has to get fixed.
The way to fix it is not at the ballot box - at least not with more budgetary restriction. Putting more restrictions in place will not allow there to be any freedom in using various monies in the budget. Instead, let there be a rainy day fund. If politicians had banked, or put away some, of the proceeds of the “boom” years - instead of spending it on new programs without guarantees that there would be funding for those programs in the out-years - then California would not have had to make such deep cuts in the “bust” periods. A rainy day fund - essentially a savings account - that cannot be raided by the politicians except in years of economic decline, is a good idea. More restrictions on where money can be spent - such a requiring a certain percentage to go to higher education as well as K-12 education - are not good ideas.
