Your governor wants to gamble on your gambling

Here's the latest plan on the table to erase California's (deep breath) $17.2 billion worth of red ink: borrow against future profits of the state lottery. If things work as planned, that could add as much as $15 billion in three years.

But here's the catch: If things fall apart, this deal calls for our state sales tax to go up one penny in order to cover the loss. Let Evan Halper and Jordan Rau explain:

The lottery proposal, according to [spokesman Matt] David, would come before voters as early as November and hinges on administration estimates that California could borrow against future profits to generate as much as $15 billion over three years.

The governor also will propose changes to the lottery intended to lure more gamblers, such as increasing payouts and updating the games offered by the state to include blackjack and poker themes.

Under the plan, if voters rejected the borrowing, or if the proposal fell through for any other reason -- such as lawsuits or lack of a viable lender -- state sales taxes would automatically increase by 1 cent to cover the loss.

The sales tax increase would stay in effect until the state's finances were out of the red, for up to three years. A 1-cent sales tax increase would generate roughly $6 billion per year, according to state statistics.

Are Republicans screaming? Yes, quite loudly, some of them. Gambling interests, whose business could shrink as the state lottery is expanded, aren't exactly thrilled either. Democrats say they'll wait and see, but think the state needs even more cash than the lottery idea can offer.

You know we're nowhere near hearing the end of this, so catch up on the details in the full story.

--Veronique de Turenne

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[charliesix]

Forget the lottery and other gambling schemes, the taxpayers have gambled enough on this sorry group of politicians and lost.

Cut the budget to what can be sustained by current income, not forseeable or optimiitically projected one. Of course everybody gets hurt, maybe some more than others but that is how life is. In addition to cutting the budget, do not add any more entitlements to anyone.

If our governor and legislators insist on their merry ways, kick them out of office.

[janet]

And his address today says he wants to steal our gas taxes AGAIN, he stole them back last summer, to the tune of $1.2 Billion. But the media was too busy obsessed with the Mayor's affair like some paps, to call attention to this disaster for our local transportation funding, so now the Gov is going to do it again right upfront.

Those taxes were approved by the voters specifically for Transportation fixes, like roads and highways, and towards mass transit. This is just fraud, taking advantage of stupid voters too busy making a living to worry about local politics -- while the handful of rich pay even less attention, too busy shopping at Barney's and pretending everything is wonderful. Until they wake up and find that the City is rewriting its General Plan to allow high-density low-income projects, with no parking, right in their neighborhoods (see Steve Morris' eye opening article in L A Weekly), including Brentwood and Westwood, to house the residents of East and South L A. They've long given up on public schools.

But the middle and upper middle classes who've cut back driving due to high gas prices and the economy, can't afford to be lied to this way, taxed for specific purposes that other politicians steal to hide the state's gross mismanagement. Where's the media on this?

[Scott]

California, the state with cities full of people that want government to give them everything they want but don't want to pay for it. Socialism at its finest. I read another news story that says California gives at home care for disabled people. Maybe they should make the medical people pick up a Big Mac for the disabled person on their way to a house call. Good God, that is a luxury that should be done away with. Highest gas taxes and one of the highest sales taxes in the nation, along with all the other taxes and they can't make ends meet.

Maybe it's time to send the illegal aliens home instead of giving them a free education.

Entitlement programs at the Federal level are getting so out of control, the politicians don't know where they are going to come up with 50+ Trillion dollars that will be needed to get the baby boomers through the retirement years. Makes the war look like a drop in the bucket.