Davis signs $99 billion budget to end fiscal stand-off

[jamesinca]

TOM CHORNEAU, Associated Press Writer Saturday, August 2, 2003



(08-02) 17:55 PDT SACRAMENTO (AP) --

Saying the new state budget is nothing to celebrate, California Gov. Gray Davis nonetheless signed a $99-billion spending plan Saturday that relies heavily on loans, fund shifts and deferrals while leaving a multi-billion dollar shortfall again next year.

The governor's signature ended a 33-day standoff between Republicans and Democrats over how to resolve the state's budget woes, which could have produced a deficit of nearly $40 billion by next summer if no corrective steps were taken.


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The new budget imposes $1.1 billion in savings from state workers that will be taken either through layoffs or by deferring salary increases.

The University of California and the California State University systems take a combined hit of close to $443 million.

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The proposal includes a 5 percent rate reduction in reimbursements due doctors and other Medi-Cal providers. All 34 optional benefits available to Medi-Cal clients would be retained, but there would be some reductions in the dental and hearing aid benefits.

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Davis made a point of criticizing long-shot Republican proposals that did not make it into the budget plan, calling them part of a "conservative agenda."

"In May I proposed a compromise plan I believed was a blueprint for a balanced budget," he said. "But a few weeks later the Republicans drew an ideological line in the sand. Their goal was clear: to impose a conservative agenda on the people of California."

Among the GOP ideas criticized by Davis were a delayed start date for kindergartners, the elimination of health insurance for up to 400,000 children and elimination of the California Coastal Commission.

Republican Assembly Leader Dave Cox said in a statement that his party saved Californians billions in tax increases by standing up to the Democrats.

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Legislative Analyst's Office has a nonpartisan review of the budget:

www.lao.ca.gov/default.asp

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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/02/state2015EDT0120.DTL

Sure they saved us billions in taxes, but we have no programs, can't afford to go to college, and I keep tearing up the shocks and suspension in my car when I hit pot holes on the freeway, but we saved tax money. I spend more on car repairs then I would have spent on taxes to balance the budget and keep programs, dumb ass republicans.