The hole keeps getting bigger…
Within the last week it has been reported:
• LA Unified School District needs employees to accept another 4 day furlough this fiscal year, and a 12% pay cut next fiscal year, or else massive layoffs will be necessary.
• In Colorado, Governor Bill Ritter has proposed a budget that cuts the pay of teachers and also raises revenue by taxing candy.
• Tax collections in Texas from sales tax and natural gas taxes are running $ 1 billion under budget
• Major unions in Washington State are revolting against Democratic State legislators, threatening to help unseat them, because of budget cuts they have imposed.
• The Pew Center on the States has released a report that finds that several other states are headed toward the dire fiscal condition that California is in.
• A newspaper article reports that a small factory in Orange County that manufactures fireplaces is closing down, sending those jobs to a plant in Tennessee
• In spite of budget cuts and budget gimmicks to balance this fiscal year’s budget, California is headed toward a $ 7-$8 billion deficit, and it looks like another $13 billion problem for next fiscal year, resulting in an estimated $21 billion total headache.
• California Senate President Pro-Tem, Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) says all that can be done to cut California’s budget has been done, we must now look at eliminating total programs, raising taxes and fees, or a combination of both.
We hear a lot about the economic recovery being under way, the worst is over, and similar platitudes. For state and local government, especially in California, we can only wish that was true. Reality says otherwise. It’s going to be another rough year for the residents of California.
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