Monday in Sacramento, another wasted day of budget drama. 

Yesterday, Senate Democrats passed a budget package that included some cuts, tax/fee increases and creative accounting, without a single Republican vote. Their hope is to force it to the Governor’s desk where if signed, would take effect in 90 days in accordance with state law.  Schwarzenegger had this to say about the Democrats plan:

“What they’re working on right now is, I think, all part of the kabuki. They’re wasting time by going through those drills, by trying to pass a simple majority illegal tax increase. I will never sign anything like this.” 

The tax and fee increases in the package include $1.50 on a pack of cigarettes, $15 vehicle license fee, a 9.9% extraction tax for oil companies and a new fee on homeowners insurance premiums.  These are projected to amount to around $2 BILLION in new taxes.  Keep in mind, we currently pay some of the highest taxes and fee’s in the nation, which apparently isn’t enough to appease the insatiable appetite of our Legislator.

Still on the table is a 3 bill option that passed with bipartisan votes in the Assembly but was shot down by Senate Republicans.  This plan would have given the state $5 BILLION to float it’s checkbook until a complete budget could be passed.  The piecemeal approach cancels the need for Controller Chaing to issue IOU’s starting on Thursday.

My question is if they need to in essence buy time to pass a complete budget….what have they been doing all this time?  We go thru this every single year in California. They know when the budget is due, and yet it’s consistently late with last minute drama.  And if I hear one more Legislature say it’s because budget and tax increases require a two-thirds vote I think my head just might explode.  Maybe our Legislature should be more focused on the immediate needs of our state instead of taking up how many juice boxes a kid can have in state day care facility (AB 627) and if law-abiding California citizens can buy their ammunition from a catalog (SB 962).  Do the state Legislatures not owe it to their constituents to complete a fundamental task of their employment on time?

They have until tonight at midnight to pass a budget or Thursday the IOU’s will roll.   I say let them, then maybe the Legislature will see the magnitude of the crisis if nothing else out of sheer embarrassment.  The stalemate appears to have no easy end in site.  Democrats will not make any further cuts to social programs, Republicans won’t raise taxes and the Governor wants reforms and will not sign a bill that includes tax increases.  

This may take awhile or could turn on a dime as politics in California often do.