Democratic Plan to Balance the Budget Introduced

Until our legislature is taken off the payroll of the government unions and scales back these unions unsustainable retirement benefits, and deals with illegal aliens this is all tripe.

Until our legislature is taken off the payroll of the government unions and scales back these unions unsustainable retirement benefits, and deals with illegal aliens this is all tripe.

this disappoints me, the democrats plan is about as delusional as the republicans. This economy is horrible, but you basically want to keep intact EVERY entitlement program no matter how expensive or ineffective they may be. On the other hand, republicans want to eliminate every entitlement program and they defend spending 11 billion a year to lock up 176000 people in prison, even though a good number of them are non-violent and could be better & more cost effectively managed in the community that sent them to prison.

Perhaps it's time that the legislature quit posturing and make an honest effort to solve this mess. Had you done so before this the Fed's might have thrown some money at the state, but I don't think they are inclined to bail out a bunch of idiots who stand around like deer stuck in headlights while the state economy melts down.

Shame on all of you- none of you deserve to be re-elected

This is clearly not in the interests of the California taxpayer nearly as much as it is in the interest of the government employee unions. The fact is, payroll is the biggest expense for many California agencies. It is a relatively huge overhead cost while the funds they provide to the agency user are fairly modest.

This budget kowtows to the government employee unions once again. These agencies will be hollow shells - burning taxpayer money like crazy by maintaining this monstrous overhead structure by paying off the state workers to sit on their duffs in agencies that don't have the non-payroll funds to actually help all that many people.

This is an option that causes more government overhead as a percentage of actual expenditures.

Look, we need a LEAN, MEAN, and EFFICIENT state government. Not a self-licking ice cream cone.

Toss this abortion out and start over.

Until the current recession, CalWORKs caseloads have declined 50% since 1995.

That's funny. I don't recall hearing any democrats calling for a 50% reduction in the staffing of CalWorks. We have had tight budgets since 2003. Why weren't these positions offered up for cuts?.

What did these state workers do with all the free time the reduced caseloads gave them? Sit around playing cards?

George: How many people staff CalWorks? What Department are they in? What work do they perform? How much of the budget for CalWorks goes for staffing? Thanks.

Eliminating programs that help low income families survive (like CalWorks where individual’s are "Working & PAYING Taxes"), would cause a dominoes effect. Not only would it force them to quit there jobs and go back on welfare which would use more tax dollars, it causes a Hugh amount of layoffs to state employees that would become unemployed (again using more tax dollars) it would rise the unemployment rate even higher than it already is. So my question is who would be left paying the taxes if the majority of Californians are back on Welfare, or Unemployed????? We need to get people back to work, help keep small businesses alive and get back on track. California used to be the wealthiest State, until they became more interested in protecting rodents (like the kangaroo rat) instead of our children.

This does not save the state anything! Keeping funding the same is still saying we can continue to borrow our way out of every problem to keep our perfect "utopia!" Funding everything today means when everything increases next year..... you have to find a way to fund it again!

Our state politicians need to get out of never, never land and get with reality! There is too much BS in the budget that can be cut starting with state polticians salaries and pay bennies they approve on themselves yearly!

Each state worker pays CalPers for retirement about 5 to 8 percent of their income each month. The state pays about the same amount to CalPers for each employee's retirement. Employees must work at least five years to get a retirement check. State employees have a great state retirement because they pay for half of it each pay period. It is not free from the state.

Many large companies have 401k plans that match employee contributions up to 100 percent and up to 12 percent of an employee's income. The state offers at 401k and a 457 plan, but the state does not provide matching.

State employees can get reduced cost health benefits upon retirement after 20 years of service, but retiree's will still need to pay what they are paying now each month for medical insurance at just over $600 a month plus increases for a family plan.

The truth is state workers pay extra for their retirement unlike many private sector jobs that charge employees $0 for retirement plan.

The "sham" consists in keeping the subject focus on the loss of services, schools, hospitals, fire and police stations, etc.
This way, the subject of Recession-Proof salaries never enters the discussion.
It may be that the personnel cuts would be reduced by 10% or more if the Total Compensation for State, County and City employees was reduced by a mere 5%.
Consider that the Cost of Living is declining at a rate of over 2%, and is expected to decline over 3% by 2010. This means the actual cut would only be about 1 or 2 percent, at the most.

What reasons do those that refuse ANY cuts give?
Some fire fighters, "back East", were asked and they said that since the cuts would be by Seniority, they were willing to accept that!
These are the same people that normally risk their lives for me and you, total strangers, but are unwilling to help their long term buddies and their families with whom they share friendship, for many hours, daily, and they trust them in any life and death decisions, without hesitation.
What kind of people are we?
I guess the new supreme American Principle is "take care of yourself and your family, and let the devil take the hindmost!"
Would they tell that to a soldier back from the war with body parts missing?
Will their children grow up to take the place of these brave heroes we send to fight and die for us?
Finally, do we deserve all their sacrifices, somre for life, and those of the families?

We need a Constitutional Ammendmet to cut all government salaries in the state by One Percent every six months, until the Federal Government declares the Official End to the Recession.
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Psst... I will let you in on a fact nobody else will tell you, the Recession will continue until the Average of all salaries is low enough to produce goods that can compete in the world in price. Yes, price. Yes, I know how much workers in India and China get paid. Yes, I know that we used to lead the world in quality and technology but the computer I am using now and you use at work, came from China.

We simply cannot survive by borrowing from China all we need to survive. That freely flowing money supply will end within 24 months, China is already asking about the "Risk" in the Dollar, itself, more to follow -from them.

My problem is that you are lumping in all salaries as though all were created equal. Thus you have UC execs making $400K or more, local FFs with $150 to $200K in total comp, but also janitors making 20K. Why treat them all equally?

Needed immediately:
1. A part-Time Legislature
2. Legislation limiting campaign contributions from Businesses or Unions to state elections.
3. The upcoming redistricting
4. Turn-over of all incarcerated illegal aliens to the feds.
5. Conversion of all state worker Pension programs to self-guided 401k's with reasonable matching state contribtions.
6. Freeze all salaries of state workers until they come in line with reality.
7. REAL 10% lay-offs across all state departments/agencies (let's REALLY all share the pain - including YOU!)
8. Voucher system for schools
9. Tighten border security. we certainly don't need MORE tax users.

Once this is done, come on back and we'll talk - until then NO NEW TAXES.

they fail to mention the RAID on local gas taxes, forcing our cities and counties to gut their public works budgets. i'm so disgusted with our politicians for going along with this. now we get to watch our local roads go to hell along with the rest of the state i guess.

This budget is a sham. It will not solve the problem. They
refusing to reduce the size of the
government to what it can afford with out
gimicks and slide of hand.

This budget is a sham. It will not solve the problem. They
refusing to reduce the size of the
government to what it can afford with out
gimicks and slide of hand.

This budget is a sham. It will not solve the problem. They
refusing to reduce the size of the
government to what it can afford with out
gimicks and slide of hand.

Why do we need to reduce the size of government?

Why is everyone expecting the State workers to balance the budget woes on their backs by taking MORE pay cuts, in addition to the already mandated 10% "emergency" pay cut we've been under since February??? Trying comparing the comparable state salary to a private sector salary in a given job, and perhaps you might understand. State workers ALWAYS make less than the private sector. The only exchange for the lifelong reduced salary is a decent retirement that WE PAY FOR!!!
The governors plan will put so many people out of work and on unemployment, costing more tax payer dollars. Closing state parks will destroy the entire system that California has spent it's hard-earned tax money to build up, lay off thousands who will collect unemployment and/or move out of the state and take away more tax revenue, and will put communities that depend on tourism out of business and again, cost more money.
So many of you are so quick to say lay off state workers. Hello? Unemployment?? You're not any closer to solving the problem than the legislature.

"Why is everyone expecting the State workers to balance the budget woes on their backs"

Because people are selfish and would rather see someone lose their job than pay anything more in taxes.

This budget has zero chances of passing and i mean ZERO. Democrats know that and we got through this every year, what is the point? Create a budget that both side can agree to because this is not it. State will go bankrupt mid july if this stupidity continues.

"Create a budget that both side can agree to because this is not it."

What you really mean is that Dems should take it up the behind again and agree to a zero tax budget--right? Because Reps aren't agreeing to taxes and Dems aren't agreeing to a budget without taxes. Tell me what the budget is both sides can agree to?

It is well known that in low income communities life i difficult. One serious poblem with lowincome areas are that crime rates are higher.

Poverty is the reality of many Americans and Opportunity is a dream, or simply what they need. A lot of people may claim that these are excuses mad by "Lazy" people. Well, your wrong it is a chain of casue and effect. Life in areas wheer gangs dominate, poverty levels are high and everything just seems hopeless.

Enviornments like these affect people and absorb them to becoming another hopeless person struggling in poverty all their life; Well, there is a solution.

Conditioning... programs like CALWORKS HELP! I know this becasue I see it everyday. People struggling and using these programs to better theri lives and have more to offer to their families. These positive affects will help the future generations and have a better chance in this world. I cannot understand why these CalWorks would be in jeopardy. Just imagine if all these people were to lose their programs. It would cause 1) thousands of job lost 2)economy would suffer (more) 2) Poverty levels would rise dramatically 3) Deases levels would rise 4) Violence rates would rise 4) and the future generation will suffer.
CHAOS

Doug ,

What i mean is what i said. If we want state shutdown, that is what we are going to get with this proposal because Republican will not vote for it. We been having budget fights for years now and it's SOP for them(Republicans) to refuse to vote until they like the budget. So like it or not but they will not vote for higher taxes and without their vote, budget can't be pass because it requires 2/3 votes.

Fire everyone in the State Government and let's use that money...
they don't know how to work anyway...or at least refuse to work.

It's that simple.

California's unemployment rate just hit 11.5%. That means that as bad as the budget shortfall seemed, it will now be worse. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-california-jobless20-2009jun20,0,3863292.story

California's General Obligation bonds are about to be downgraded:
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1944927320090619

That's going to drive up the cost of ALL state borrowing, including revenue anticipation notes. That will make the budget shortfall greater next year - just from interest expense.

Ladies and gentlemen, there IS an external reality out there. California has been living beyond its means -even in good times - and now it's going to pay for it. Find me one economist that thinks it's a good idea to raise taxes in the face of high unemployment, massive foreclosures, and falling assessed valuations. Find just one.

Reality is about to impose itself on the California Experience. We can either make reasonable cutbacks now, or lose even more trying to preserve what there is neither the political will nor the available resources to preserve.

How long do you want to drag this out and how much worse do you want the state to be hurt? Those are the only choices you have left.

There is ONE other choice, WE can tell our Government to quit spending money on pork barrel expeditors like trying to find out why pigs stink and all other unnecessary spending. Don't take money from the little people in State position, go after the big fish like our Legislators, our Congress, and Governor's who in this terrible economy are getting raises, new car's, and state of the art supplies. Fireman, Policeman, and our Military should not take the hit just because they are State employees. They work extremely hard putting their lives on the lines everyday to keep you and your family safe. Shame on you, for taking out your frustration on them. And Seniority should be a benefit; they have the experience to keep the less seasoned staff from fatalities. When Government first started, they were not paid for guiding this Country; they felt it was their civic duty. Now they feel so powerful they are the wealthiest in the world. If anyone should receive a deduction in pay it should start at the top. We are all living paycheck to paycheck and they are living very well. However, when you talk about having everyone take cuts so that they are at the same pay scale, then you give them all the same health care program, the same retirement plans. YOU BECOME A COMMUNIST COUNTRY.... SAY GOOD BYE TO FREEDOM!!!! That is not for me, I like my freedom, and pray that others do too.

I wrote a letter to the editor of my local newspaper urging the CA Legislature to consider the many available revenue raising options. If my household budget were going underwater, I would do everything I could to bring money in the door-- turn over couch cushions, take another job, anything (legal). I wouldn't say to my kids, "Sorry. We're cutting the meal program here indefinitely."

Cutting safety net services like Healthy Families and CalWORKS will only further undermine the strength of our state.

If you want to try an easy letter writing tool, I used this: http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/letter/?letter_KEY=1099

Let's keep Cal Grants, Healthy Families and CalWORKS -
Let's just have the people that use the money from these programs PAY THEM BACK!

The state is too deep into it to continue giving handouts. Makes public services all about loans instead.

Let's keep Cal Grants, Healthy Families and CalWORKS -
Let's just have the people that use the money from these programs PAY THEM BACK!

The state is too deep into it to continue giving handouts. Make public services all about loans instead.

It appears I'm not the only one to pan the Dem budget "solution." This oped isn't too wild about the Governators unreasonable attempts at cost-shifting, but he's REALLY not impressed by the Dem effort.

http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_19_ed_budget1.3e32eef.html

This is looking more and more like Rome burning while Nero fiddles around.....

Some excerpts: The Democrats' budget contains at least $8 billion in solutions that are either gimmicks or questionable assumptions -- about $2 billion more than in the governor's plan. Increasing the amount of budget fudging is not progress under any acceptable definition of sane fiscal policy.

The Democrats, for example, go along with the governor's proposal to raise $1 billion next fiscal year by selling a portion of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, the state's workers' compensation insurer of last resort. The state's legislative analyst calls that prospect "unlikely," and with good reason. Two years ago, the governor proposed to raise $1 billion by selling EdFund, a state-created agency that oversees student loans. That sale has yet to materialize.

And the Democrats would expand on the governor's accounting tricks that shift revenue and payments around. The governor suggests at least $4.1 billion in gimmicks that take revenue from the future to use in 2009-10, while shifting some 2009-10 expenses into the following fiscal year. The Democrats would add another $2.2 billion in such ploys, which appear to provide savings and revenue without doing either.

Such budget strategies only ensure prolonged financial agony. California can continue to gamble on the future magically filling state coffers. But the wiser bet is a budget that balances honestly, not one crafted mainly to duck politically tough decisions.

Strange... no mention of the budget deficits created by keeping non-violent elderly women just so as to not appear as "girly men" by letting grannies in the yard go free.

Its sad that the California legislators refuse to talk about the massive illegal alien dilemma, they have in the state? Nothing is said outside of public comments and the rural media? Perhaps that's why large papers are losing their readership, in that they are not informing--THE PEOPLE--of the truth, just rhetoric and propaganda. To make matters worse, one of their own--Los Angeles city manager Andronovich admitted that an $11 billion dollar deficit, could be attributed to foreign nationals. Indifferent to the California taxpayers the Liberal Democrat assembly manipulated Proposition 187, so it would not reach the Supreme court. It's enactment would have stopped illegal families subsidized from the welfare trough. Now they are paying the piper--big time. Now everybody is suffering in the illegal immigrant Sanctuary state, as the Sacramento legislators prepare to push for higher taxes.

Say--YES--to e-verify! It will empty the workplace of illegal labor stealing jobs. Errors can be resolved at the Social Security office, where illegal workers wouldn't dare to go. They told us--both government--and private they their was only 11 to 12 million illegals living here? THAT BEEN FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS! HOW MANY ARE THEY REALLY NOW IN AMERICA? 20 maybe 30 plus? They have lied to us before--? When is American citizens going to stop being gullible and refuse to pay ever higher taxes for those who hire them--or the illegal immigrants and their extended kinship.

Tell our corrupted legislators to seal THE BORDER. TELL THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT THE BORDER FENCE AND HALT WEAKENING IMMIGRATION LAWS AND STOP PANDERING TO THE OPEN BORDERS, FREE TRADERS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS. Say--NO--to any AMNESTY. Outside of this--NOTHING WILL HAPPEN--EXCEPT ANOTHER PRE-ARRANGED AMNESTY, THAT TAXPAYERS WILL GET THE BILL IN INFINITY. READ ABOUT THE IRREVERSIBLE OVERPOPULATION NIGHTMARE. Digest more of the facts and unbiased truth at NUMBERSUSA, JUDICIALWATCH,CAPSWEB, ALIPAC, AMERICANPATROL. Find out undisclosed news and the numbers of illegal aliens in the penal system at THEDARKSIDEOFILLEGALIMMIGRATION & ILLEGALIMMIGRATIONDAILY.

The truth is that the state would save lots of money by cutting calworks staff and many other programs in state departments that don't need half of their employees and really get rid of the layers and layers of supervisors. Is 2s 3s 4s, come on all of these managers are unnecesery this chief and that chief, too many chiefs and not eniugh indians. Not to mention some divisons that have over 10 retired staff that were brought back to make the same or more money than before they retired to do lest work part-time or no work at all. There are employees that work but the work is not every day. Most state employees are making at least 4600 per month. Some supervisers 8,000 per month. Only to sit in a meeting that you don't have a clue of what's being discussed. Let's not even go ther about the money making prisons. It's a money game. Billions of dollars being spent on keeping nonviolent people in prison rather than investing in their lives with training, therapy, housing, family reuinifying, employment placement, healthcare, mandatory community service with incentives, change the 3 strike laws. How about another chance? The home of the brave and the land of the free! Give me a break. How do you get info to the right folks that need to know- like the legislatures?

The truth is that the state would save lots of money by cutting calworks staff and many other programs in state departments that don't need half of their employees and really get rid of the layers and layers of supervisors. Is 2s 3s 4s, come on all of these managers are unnecesery this chief and that chief, too many chiefs and not eniugh indians. Not to mention some divisons that have over 10 retired staff that were brought back to make the same or more money than before they retired to do lest work part-time or no work at all. There are employees that work but the work is not every day. Most state employees are making at least 4600 per month. Some supervisers 8,000 per month. Only to sit in a meeting that you don't have a clue of what's being discussed. Let's not even go ther about the money making prisons. It's a money game. Billions of dollars being spent on keeping nonviolent people in prison rather than investing in their lives with training, therapy, housing, family reuinifying, employment placement, healthcare, mandatory community service with incentives, change the 3 strike laws. How about another chance? The home of the brave and the land of the free! Give me a break. How do you get info to the right folks that need to know- like the legislatures?

The truth is that the state would save lots of money by cutting calworks staff and many other programs in state departments that don't need half of their employees and really get rid of the layers and layers of supervisors. Is 2s 3s 4s, come on all of these managers are unnecesery this chief and that chief, too many chiefs and not enough indians. Not to mention some divisons that have over 10 retired staff that were brought back to make the same or more money than before they retired to do lest work part-time or no work at all. There are employees that work but the work is not every day. Most state employees are making at least 4600 per month. Some supervisers 8,000 per month. Only to sit in a meeting that you don't have a clue of what's being discussed. Let's not even go ther about the money making prisons. It's a money game. Billions of dollars being spent on keeping nonviolent people in prison rather than investing in their lives with training, therapy, housing, family reuinifying, employment placement, healthcare, mandatory community service with incentives, change the 3 strike laws. How about another chance? The home of the brave and the land of the free! Give me a break. How do you get info to the right folks that need to know- like the legislatures?

FYI: Calworks is staffed by County workers, not State. The number of workers has decreased AND the number of clients per worker has increased. I would love to see most public assistance (including Medi-Cal and food stamps) programs reduced or eliminated. One easy way to do it: don't open Medi-Cal cases for illegal aliens. Let the hospitals employ a Medi-Cal worker to get reimbursed for the emergency services received by illegal aliens. Open and shut the case. No prenatal or postnatal benefits. Don't issue a Medi-Cal card to illegals. By not maintaining illegal alien Medi-Cal cases, we could eliminate dozens of positions in San Diego County alone. Another option: don't issue welfare checks to the illegal alien parents of U.S. born anchor babies. Put them on 100% vendor pay: pay their share of the rent to the landlord, their share of the utilities. Give the kids food stamps and a chit for used clothing at Salvation Army or Goodwill or a similar charity. Diapers could be issued through the WIC program. Not a dime in cash. That would reduce welfare fraud. Plus it would inform the landlord re how many (30?) people are actually living on the premises, since illegal aliens tend to group together, about 3 families plus a few transients, per unit. It would also let the illegals know that they are NOT welcome.
Plus they would not be able to send our tax dollars back to their home country.
Eventually, on the federal level, they need to eliminate birthright citizenship, chain migration and NO AMNESTY whatsoever. That will decrease caseloads by 10 -15% for food stamps and cash aid; 50% for Medi-Cal, 10% for subsidized housing, plus more for WIC and other programs. You can see the County savings. There would also be State savings for prenatal & postnatal Medi-Cal as well as for MEDS workers and fewer Healthy Family workers needed. Why? Because illegal alien headed families tend to be poorer, due to lack of education, skill, literacy and English ability. They are heavily subsidized. Getting rid of illegal aliens would get rid of almost 1/2 of the state budget shortfall.

FYI: Calworks is staffed by County workers, not State. The number of workers has decreased AND the number of clients per worker has increased. I would love to see most public assistance (including Medi-Cal and food stamps) programs reduced or eliminated. One easy way to do it: don't open Medi-Cal cases for illegal aliens. Let the hospitals employ a Medi-Cal worker to get reimbursed for the emergency services received by illegal aliens. Open and shut the case. No prenatal or postnatal benefits. Don't issue a Medi-Cal card to illegals. By not maintaining illegal alien Medi-Cal cases, we could eliminate dozens of positions in San Diego County alone. Another option: don't issue welfare checks to the illegal alien parents of U.S. born anchor babies. Put them on 100% vendor pay: pay their share of the rent to the landlord, their share of the utilities. Give the kids food stamps and a chit for used clothing at Salvation Army or Goodwill or a similar charity. Diapers could be issued through the WIC program. Not a dime in cash. That would reduce welfare fraud. Plus it would inform the landlord re how many (30?) people are actually living on the premises, since illegal aliens tend to group together, about 3 families plus a few transients, per unit. It would also let the illegals know that they are NOT welcome.
Plus they would not be able to send our tax dollars back to their home country.
Eventually, on the federal level, they need to eliminate birthright citizenship, chain migration and NO AMNESTY whatsoever. That will decrease caseloads by 10 -15% for food stamps and cash aid; 50% for Medi-Cal, 10% for subsidized housing, plus more for WIC and other programs. You can see the County savings. There would also be State savings for prenatal & postnatal Medi-Cal as well as for MEDS workers and fewer Healthy Family workers needed. Why? Because illegal alien headed families tend to be poorer, due to lack of education, skill, literacy and English ability. They are heavily subsidized. Getting rid of illegal aliens would get rid of almost 1/2 of the state budget shortfall.

State employees have a great state retirement because they pay for half of it each pay period. It is not free from the state.

Yes, and so does everyone on social security. 7.65% for employees and 15.30% for self-employed people. Of course, THEY can't retire until they are at least 62,

Cal State employees, however, on average, schools and other public agencies contribute 12.7% of payroll for their employees' retirement benefit above and beyond anything their employees contribute.

Thanks Doug:
Needed immediately:
1. A part-Time Legislature
2. Legislation limiting campaign contributions from Businesses or Unions to state elections.
3. The upcoming redistricting
4. Turn-over of all incarcerated illegal aliens to the feds.
5. Conversion of all state worker Pension programs to self-guided 401k's with reasonable matching state contribtions.
6. Freeze all salaries of state workers until they come in line with reality.
7. REAL 10% lay-offs across all state departments/agencies (let's REALLY all share the pain - including YOU!)
8. Voucher system for schools
9. Tighten border security. we certainly don't need MORE tax users.

Once this is done, come on back and we'll talk - until then NO NEW TAXES.

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