Californians! Create Your Own State Budget

By Sophia Monroe
Intern
Next 10

Every day in the news there are more updates on the budget issue facing California. Legislators are going back and forth trying to decide what is best for the people of the state, who are often unclear of the issues and tough trade-offs involved in crafting the state’s $140 billion budget.

Well good news, Californians! You now have the chance to take the state budget into your own hands. Next 10, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, created the California Budget Challenge, is an innovative online tool that allows users to roll up their sleeves and create their own state budget. You can finally call the shots. With the Challenge, users go through many different policy choices that the legislature faces to create their own state budget. After making a decision, users then have the ability to alert their legislators and the governor of the policy choices they made. The Challenge allows users to understand how the budget is built, who is involved, and important background information about each policy option.

After completing the Challenge, users have the opportunity to see whether or not they balanced the budget, ended up with a surplus or increased the size of the existing deficit. A summary of each person’s individual budget is then given in comparison to the current state budget. You can see how your plans for the state stack up against those that are currently in place.

The Challenge was developed by Next 10 as a way to educate Californians about the issues facing them. Next 10 enlisted the help of former Director of the California Department of Finance, Tim Gage, to develop a list of policy options currently being discussed. The Challenge is updated multiple times each year to ensure the choices each user makes are as up to date as possible.

Over 50,000 people have taken the Challenge. It is currently being used by high schools and colleges across the state, the League of Women Voters, the state Parent-Teachers Association, New America Media, California libraries and other education and civic groups to educate Californians.

It is important, now more than ever, that all Californians are aware of the trade-offs involved in crafting the state budget. California is the 8th largest economy in the world. Those living in it should know all they can about it.

Take the Challenge yourself. http://www.next10.org/challenge

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