Return of the last action hero
It took almost five years, but Arnold Schwarzenegger finally has done something as governor that I can cheer.
You may recall my fury with the California Legislature’s dithering over a state budget while the state economy is falling apart. There’s been no sense of urgency on their missed deadline. Instead of dealing with our enormous budget gap, our (well-paid) representatives are doing things like fining businesses for selling mylar balloons.
Turns out I’m not the only one who’s fed up. Our governor has come up with an ingenious solution: He’s going to cut the pay of about 200,000 state worker back to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour until there’s a budget signed.
I love this plan. I’m sure all of the Sheraton Suites heard my roar of excitement last night when I read this story.
Do I think these state workers are to blame? No. Do I think their intense panic and displeasure is going to force action from the Legislature? You bet.
Schwarzenegger hasn’t been a good governor. I didn’t vote for him, either time. But tonight, he gets a tip of the hat. And I make this prediction, assuming he can legally follow through on this threat: our budget impasse will be magically solved within a week of those new (lower) paychecks going out.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
The problem is the still very popular 2/3rds requirement for Budgets and Tax Increases that we got with Prop 13 – giving the “Anti-Tax” republicans more power than their representation would suggest they deserve. The democrats in the legislature did, in fact, present a budget on time that was rejected by the republicans because it included some tax increases. The republicans in the legislature refuse to present their plan of cuts only (at least out in the open) since that is usually what gets the electorate up in arms. So yes, threatening to cut the pay of state workers is a good piece of theater (though bear in mind that it isn’t a real cut, just a deferment of the difference till the budget is signed, and Chiang won’t follow the governors order anyway) and it might get some movement, but it is also a sign of how impotent Arnold is, since even he has admitted that revenue increases must be part of the solution to the structural deficit, but hasn’t the balls to actually lead with that — and he is the one who brought in the Great Florida Auditor who was going to find ALL the fat in our horribly bloated state budget and when she was done she simply left the state with no recommendations.
That the darn $4 billion a year car tax just about covers the current deficit is worth pointing out.
Top Five Latest Budgets:
1. FISCAL YEAR: 2002-2003
Governor: Gray Davis
Date Signed: Sept. 5, 2002
2. FISCAL YEAR: 1992-1993
Governor: Pete Wilson
Date Signed: Sept. 2, 1992
3. FISCAL YEAR: 2007-2008
Governor: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Date Signed: Aug. 24, 2007
4. FISCAL YEAR: 1998-1999
Governor: Pete Wilson
Signed: Aug. 21, 1998
5. FISCAL YEAR: 1997-1998
Governor: Pete Wilson
Date Signed: Aug. 18, 1997
September 20th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
[…] of California has been operating without a budget, which has made me irate (as I noted here and here). Like the House of Usher, the entire economy seems to be slipping into the tarn, but the […]