California budget expected to soar in next 4 years

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(05-24) 04:00 PDT Sacramento --

Over the next four years, California's general fund budget is projected to grow from $88.8 billion to $112.5 billion, but that additional money - which will raise the general fund to its highest level in history - will not restore recent cuts to parks, health care and social services.

Instead, more than half will be automatically spent on K-12 schools and community colleges because of voter-approved Proposition 98, while most of the remaining increase will cover rising costs of health care, prisons and the costs of debt and borrowing.

California's general fund has been dramatically cut over the past few years. In 2008, prior to the financial downturn, California was projected to spend $122.5 billion in 2011-12, while Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal calls for spending nearly $34 billion less than that. Brown has touted the statistic that under next year's budget, general fund spending is at 1972 levels when compared to personal income in the state.

Despite the cuts, the state's expenses are projected to grow.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/24/MN701JITJ3.DTL

[slackmaster]

1. That often happens when spending increases are put on auto-pilot

Without similar automatic increases in revenue.

[CreekDog]

3. how much do you pay in property taxes

you always complain about spending (always in general though).

[slackmaster]

5. Just shy of $2,000, not that it matters very much

What I pay in income tax, sales tax, and fuel taxes puts me into a "highly taxed" category.

[CreekDog]

6. we'll make a deal with you on taxes

your taxes can go down or stay the same if:

1) we pack more children into classrooms
2) we force more children to go without medical care
3) there are more homeless children than there are now
4) more state parks close
5) many more teachers will not be able to afford a house, like you already have, on their salary
6) the severely disabled who live in poverty will have their small amounts of sustenance reduced even more, perhaps causing some to do without food, medical care, heat, etc.

we can save you tax money, which seems to be your biggest concern here (aside from guns), we just have to do the above, which I'm sure you will support since you rarely state much concern for those issues anyway.

[slackmaster]

7. I have a better idea!

1. End the War On (some) drugs,
2. Release non-violent offenders from prison. Put some of them in some other kind of less expensive custody if needed,
3. End the practice of giving six-figure jobs on "commissions" to termed-out career politicians,
4. Stop wasting money on boondoggles that require endless subsidies, such as high-speed rail.

...we can save you tax money, which seems to be your biggest concern here (aside from guns), we just have to do the above, which I'm sure you will support since you rarely state much concern for those issues anyway.

How about both of us working together to keep the discussion about the topic at hand rather than about us?

[CreekDog]

8. how much does that save you annually?

i've asked you that before and you didn't know then.

[slackmaster]

9. A lot more than not doing those things would save

Closing schools is not the answer. It's fodder for an appeal to emotion.

[CreekDog]

11. you never post a single number

why should we base policy on an idea that you have which no numbers for?

[slackmaster]

12. Your posts have been a bit number-challenged as well.

;-)

[No Elephants]

14. Very, very little, in comparison to Boston. We pay state and federal income taxes, sales taxes

and fuel taxes, too.

[CreekDog]

2. it's been hammered in recent years and will recover somewhat

10-11 86.6 B
09-10 86.3
08-09 103.4
07-08 103.3
06-07 101.2

and we have more people in this state than 5 years ago. the budget should increase in four years.

[xchrom]

4. Voter approved propositions w/out tax increases is a strong

Part of the reason Cali is in trouble.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

13. Key point

It will be interesting what happens when those increases bump up against the Prop 4 limits.

[msongs]

10. single payer health care for all in california - budget saver for state and businesses nt