Notes from Governor Schwarzenegger
It is interesting when a note from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appears in the morning email. He wrote me in response to a dispatch I sent concerning the budget issues concerning California State University, Chico. He made a few points beginning with;
“California is blessed with one of the world's most dynamic and diverse economies, but when it comes to the state budget process, we are highly dysfunctional. The economic slowdown and autopilot state spending have created a budget shortfall of $3.3 billion for the current fiscal year, and it could grow to an estimated $14.5 billion by July 2009.”
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright (c) 2008
His main concern seems to be, after two attempts to reform the budget process, to deal with fixed expenditures which are part of this process. He believes that these elements are the main reason the budget is out of balance. He proposed a 10 percent across-the-board to nearly every General Fund program from 2008-09 levels.
“ I am proud that higher education spending will still increase”, he wrote, “by $1.6 billion-bringing its total funding level to $21.7 billion. This includes $5.5 billion for the University of California System, a net increase of $81.3 million; $4.4 billion for our California State Universities, a net increase of $35.1 million; and $9.1 billion for our California Community Colleges, an increase of $146.5 million”
In order to fix what he calls a budget mess, Governor Schwarzenegger wants to propose an automatic mechanism that would trigger lower funding levels already approved by the Legislature equivalent to the deficit.
This is another case of fixed programs not addressing the problems that inevitably occur during the budget year. It takes judgment out of the hand of the people we elect to fix California's difficulties.