By snoadmin
In his latest plan to mend California’s financial crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a five-year extension for existing tax hikes. Not only has this proposal gotten Republicans shaking their heads, but Brown’s proposition to let voters determine the fate of the tax hikes has those in office already not in favor of his actions frustrated.
According to the Huffington Post, this measure — which will include massive increases to the state’s income, sales and car taxes on the ballot — is necessary in beginning to patch the $28 billion deficit which the state is expected to reach in the next 18 months. Many additional changes are to be set in motion, but first on Brown’s agenda is his plan to successfully reorder a majority of local and state government responsibilities.
It is perhaps in an attempt to please voters whilst dealing with such a timely subject that Brown has proposed this option to “let the voters decide.” What this would entail is a specifically designated ballot measure set for this June that would ask voters to extend those tax increases that, before, were promised to be only temporary. Many of those opposed to the tax extension fear that this is just Brown’s attempt to trick Californians into agreeing to a permanent tax hike. Republicans have remained persistent in lobbying against this possible voter involvement.
According to a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California, 49.5 percent of adults are not sure what to make of Brown’s performance in office. The same poll suggested that more than two-thirds of Californians fear the local government is not doing enough to promote job growth in the surrounding areas.
Brown’s new plan includes trimming expenditures on universities and cash grants for the financially poor. As stated in an article by the Los Angeles Times, Brown wants to “lower the maximum age for children who benefit from state-subsidized child care,” which would serve as yet another way to fix the budget crisis.
Among the long list of cutbacks, Brown has also proposed that Medi-Cal let patients see the doctor less often and pay more up front when they do. According to the Los Angeles Times article, “Children in the state’s Healthy Families insurance program would no longer receive vision coverage, and their families would pay more for medical care.”
With a deficit as deep as California’s, drastic measures seem to be the only realistic solution to a problem that only continues to snowball. Don’t like who’s in charge of fixing the problem as of now? Well here is your chance to speak up.
According to the Christian Science Monitor, Brown believes it would be “unconscionable” for lawmakers to block his request for a special election. And honestly, who in good conscience can disagree with a call for true honest-to-goodness democracy? Yes, he was elected to decide what is best for us as citizens of a building budget crisis, but for a situation that seems completely beyond the legislator’s control, it seems the best thing to do now is leave it up to the citizens themselves. What is a state’s governor, after all, if not a messenger of the people?
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