Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown seems to be taking a step in the right direction in the coming 2014- 2015 fiscal year.
He is proposing stricter and more frugal budget practices that would not only deeply cut spending, but also establish a “piggy bank” system that would intelligently save the surplus revenue.
This will be used to pay off California’s massive $22.4 billion debt.
The plan does not call for an immediate, pay in full policy, but rather is meant to gradually address the state’s financial needs over a period of time. Ideally, this will prevent further financial unrest that has been characteristic of California over the years.
“This is a time when we can really get our budget house in order,” said Steve Levy, Director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy in Palo Alto.
However, not all of Brown’s fellow democrats share the same ideas for the new year and the surplus.
While Brown hopes to use the money wisely and invest it for the long run, many Democrats wish to use the money immediately towards an increase in social programs.
According to the San Francisco Gate, Darrel Steinberg, Senate President Pro Tempore, claimed that while he essentially likes the budget plan, he felt that too much money was being spent on paying off the debt that could be used to refinance social programs which had to be cut.
One of these programs, a new one that is being proposed by Steinberg himself, is a transitional kindergarten program that would cost a billion dollars by 2020 to serve 350,000 children, ages 4-5.
While these programs are nice to have, they are only good when two criteria are met: one being that the economic environment is positive enough where these programs are possible. Secondly, the program is positive when the people benefiting from the program outweigh the cost of the program itself.
This type of program does not meet either criteria and should not be an option as it only helps a small fraction of the populous.
The billion dollars from the plan is something that could be better invested in programs that help far more people or pay off the existing debt.
The most concerning is that if the President Pro Tempore of the state has these feelings about the budget then how many others share his viewpoint?
The budget, while not perfect, tries to steer the state in a direction that many have tried to avoid or ignore over the years.
Since the California State Senate must pass his proposal before the budget goes into effect, there is the very real threat that it risks being watered down or flat out denied by democratic state senators because it does not meet their expectations.
Cutting the budget isn’t something enjoyable, it’s something that has to be done considering that California is a financial mess. This is a huge task that Brown is trying to undertake and it is a solution that California is long over due for.
If Democrats don’t want to follow Gov. Brown, the state may be at risk of falling into old habits that will lead to diving deeper into debt.
