Fixing California: Let’s hear from you

With the state embarking on yet another voyage into uncharted waters -- this one its worst budget crisis in living memory -- the thoughts and insights on fixing the state from Californians from all walks of life, across the political spectrum and all along the economic ladder have never been more important.

Here at The Times, we are creating a space to make this discussion happen.

We will seek out the views of eminent persons from here and across the country -- successful businesspeople, political leaders, college professors, experts in finance and governance -- but they certainly have no monopoly on achievement or wisdom. The state’s predicament is so great that its solution demands the broadest possible discussion.

Do we have a spending problem or a revenue problem? Are illegal immigrants part of the problem, the whole problem or part of the solution? Are the state’s civil servants overpaid or underappreciated? How do we balance the need to control spending with the need to invest in the future via public schools, Cal State University and the University of California? By preserving those institutions’ enviable stature while keeping them affordable for the next generation of leaders in business, government, engineering and culture?

These are only a few of the issues that must be debated today. We welcome your thoughts. Please post your comments below.

-- Michael Hiltzik

Here are recent articles about California's budget problems:

Wanted: Profiles in Courage (Jun. 1, 2009)

California's problem is spending? That's a myth (May 28, 2009)

A state trapped by fiscal inertia (May 24, 2009)

Schwarzenegger missed his golden opportunity to give Californians the truth (May 21, 2009)

Opinion: State of denial (March 3, 2009)

Comments

[A Rothman]

No ballot initiatives that require the issuance of bonds should be allowed on the ballot during lean years. I still think its ridiculous that CA voters passed a bond for stem cell research. The state has no business funding this type of research. On top of that, this proposition was passed in a year when the state had financial difficulty. The voters simply don't understand that in order to pay for $3 billion, the total cost after interest will be closer to $5 to $6 billion. On the one hand, voters don't want to pay taxes. On the other hand, they want services and their pet project propositions.

[stew]

so far as I am conceredn the state maybe even the country has not felt the sting of the economic down trun as many of us have lived in our every day lives before any of this started?
I went to DMV to pay my fees to discover there weretwo tickets on the family car. It was a budget buster for me. Do you think DMV will take a payment or two? ABSOLUTELY NOT ! Whent the state gets to the point that some of us are in, where we need consideration from others? Then I will feel the state gets it? Because right now? The state has tapped the taxpayers out and demands more. Such are the things revolutions are begun.

[David U]

You will get all sorts of comments and most of them will be from people who think they have the answer to the states fiscal problem.
Most of them will not have read the budget to see where the money actually comes from or what it is spent on. Many believe Prop 13 is responsible, and it partly is due to the 2/3 requirement for any new taxes. However, 88% of the budget is mandated to be spent on specific programs due to a constant stream of initiatives that have been passed by the voters over the years. These initiatives required the issuing of bonds. At the time these issues were passed it appeared that the states income would continue to rise and the bonds would be secure. The state can not file bankruptcy and defaulting on these issues would bring financial disaster to the state. The initiative process has been usurped by special interest and you, the voters passed them. It is not the politicians, immigrants, the governor or high paid state employees that are the cause of the deficit, it is you, the voters who are responsible.

[al huard]

first thing we should do is make the state work for ua andnot us working for them we need to have a roll back on people and salaries no one reaason is for the state to show that there trying to help how many position can we elininate and why the perks on gas and cars all of us have our salaries and we have to pay gas and related wuto expenses these people are not kings

[Miguel]

WELL, WELL, LET ME TELL YOU, DO YOU THINK, IT IS WISE TO SEND CRIMINALS TO PRISON, FOR LIFE TIME, FOR THE THREE STRIKES? CALIFORNIA, IS SPENDING MORE MONEY, ON PONISHING CRIMINALS THAN RE-HABILITATING THEM. DO YOU THINK, IT IS WISE TO FEED THE CITIZEN CHILDREN OF PARENTS WHO WERE DEPORTED? CALIFORNIA, IS SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY FEEDING THOSE CHILDREN THAT MUST BE FED BY THEIR OWN PARENTS. DO YOU THINK, IT IS WISE TO AVOIDING DRIVER LICENSE TO ELEGAL ELIENS? WHEN THEY GET THE PERMITION TO DRIVE, THEY WILL PURCHASE BRAND NEW CARS, AUTO MOBILE INSURANCE, HOUSES, AND A LOT MORE! DISCRINTION, IS HURTING THE ECONOMY OF THIS COUNTRY. CALIFORNIA, AND THE REST OF THE STATES ARE INVESTING WITH THE WRONG PARTNER...CENTRAL AMERICA IT IS NEXT DOOR, IT MUST TRADE WITH IT MORE THAN WITH ANYBOY ALSE, WHY? BECAUSE AMERICA BUYS MORE FROM USA, THAN ANYOTHER CONTINENT. USA IT'S LOOSING THE MARKITING IN THE TERRITOY OF AMERICA, BECAUSE, IT'S ALOWING THE CHINA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES, LIKE GERMAN, FRANCE, ITALY, AND SO MANY OTHER COUNTRIESTO SELLING THEIR GOODS IN AMERICA.

[Matt Felix]

The state in CA is simply too big (I am a Democrat). There is also an inherent inefficiency because of redundancy w/ federal programs.Federal programs in this country are extensive and fairly progressive by historical standards. Why can't Californians depend largely on them? A state is limited in its ability top provide to services because states can not print money. We should take these limitations into acount when setting the budgets and programs. For the most part it is not reasonable for a state to run deficits for any meaningful period of time because of the aforementioned limits. Time to make CA competitive again.

Matt

[theCanimal]

The Government must live within it's means. There are too many government employess who feel they are entitled to a job. The rest of us don't have guaranteed employment, healthcare and a pension!

[Esta Cirillo]

All I can say is that instead of taking away Medical Dental and vision from people over 21 is absolutely ridiculous. The people over 21 are the ones that need it. And speaking of ridiculous even medical dental is pretty bad. That's why you see so many seniors going around without teeth and bad eyesight.
Pretty disgusting state of affairs.

[Rob Howard]

I believe the real problem boils down to a few simple things.

#1. The Ballot Initiatives. I believe they cause more problems than they solve. Prop 13, Term limits, etc etc etc. They whole process needs to go.

#2. Our current Governor and Legislatures are growing more unwilling to LEAD us, their job is to make the tough decisions for us and what is in the best interest in the short & long term. However they are increasingly incompetent, short-sided (no long term vision) because of term limits, and will scapegoat everything to the ballot box. Makes us long for the days that Gray Davis, Pete Wilson, and Willie Brown actually led us.

We need to see that Reaganomics has failed (remember Bush Sr called Reaganomics "voo-doo" economics).

#3. Our state budget system is structurally flawed as a result of Prop 13, if it wasn't flawed we wouldn't have these constant roller coaster budget years. We need to throw it all out & start all over and put our State tax code on a stable base. Since our economy is more of a service economy, rather than industrial as it used to be; we need to add those service sectors to the tax base. Need to change the code so out of state companies doing business in CA tax pay their share as do CA based companies.

#4. This goes back to the ballot initiative process, but we need to stop telling the State to issue bonds to pay for something. If we want something, we need to learn that it is in our best for our wallet & State stability in the long run to pay for it once (tax) rather than borrow through bonds (pay for at least twice), thus saddling & tying the hands of Legislature down the road w/ more of the budget servicing debt.

It's not fair for the poor to bear the brunt of the budget, everyone should shoulder some of the burden.

Jerry Brown was right about the effects of Prop 13, it just took a longer for the problems to come full circle.

[MICHAEL WHITE]

Well, here's an idea, have both the Republican and Democratic parties in the legislature place their version of the annual budget up for a vote. That means there would be two budgets the voters would vote on and the budget with the most votes wins. The budgets submitted to the voters must be balanced, have no borrowing and include either tax increases or spending cuts or a combination. It should also list all the programs the budget funds. This way, the voters can directly determine what is important and what is not.

[mr simon]

Get rid of all the illegals, stop all services for their illegal kids!!!!!!!!!

[callaway]

there is nothing wrong with the california budget..they r (arnie) DOF ,and DPA,r making it appear as tought we r in a gloom and doom situation but,that simply is not true. the truth of the matter is that certain people want to destroy the unions and cancel social programs . you have to look outside the box .does arnie really look like this is bothering him. hell no he could careless. all this budget frenzy is nothing more but just smoke and mirrors....this is the same thing pete wilson tried to do.but failed.....so little arnie is the right heartless person to finish the job...PS .I know lets ask arnie to borrow some of his millions and also all his buddys to balance the budget... we promise we will pay it back.

[Ladydiodes]

The government should work within their budget. I know that I have "x" amount of dollars coming in and that is all that I can spend. What California government is doing is playing a shell game. Spending more than they have and they really need to cut out the dead wood in the system. Way to much government waste, but know they want to raise taxes when it isn't necessary. The people of California should clean house and recall everyone and start over. We need to cut the spending not raise taxes.

[Louweegie272]

I don't know that illegal immigrants are the whole problem, but conservative estimates put the cost of their being in California to be any wear between 5 and 14 billion dollars a year. Not paying that would make a significant dent in the budget deficit. The economy that brought these people here no longer exists, they should leave.

[hermosawave]

Nobody wants to pay for the services we need from the state government, so the Governor is slashing and burning. I think most Californians will get the message when the spending reductions hit them up close and personal. Then everyone will realize why we need to spend more.

Ultimately California's problem is a revenue problem. Since Prop 13, which has helped many, many people stay in their homes as they increase in value (including me), California has not had enough revenue.

California needs more revenue, and the first place to start is with a constitutional amendment to abolish the 2/3 majority for the budget.

Obviously we can spend more efficiently and just as obviously there will be things we cannot afford in our post-American Century, but infrastructure, education and parks are things we must have.

[Adam Soto]

Get rid of Prop 13.

Today.

Bring back equitable taxation!

[CJ Roses]

If we are going to get serious about cutting spending (and I hope we do), then we must cut the beneftis rec'd by state employees. It makes no sense nor is there any rationale for their beneftis to be so much greater than the private sector. Public sector\private sector wages are now comparable...

[jay schlock]

We need to get rid of the propositions. Plain and simple. When I moved out of here there were maybe 2 on the ballot, last election there were 14! We elect representatives now lets have them do the job we elect them to do. Maybe then they can clean up the mess we make every election year when the people vote and silly spending programs without the taxes to fund them.

[Thomas M.]

The time has come for new ways of providing for many of the services we need. It is past time for all our lawmakers and the governor to stop thinking tax and raise fees on the "Good people of California" and charge the bad people more. That's right a new set of laws, taxes, and fees for people who can not seem to make good decisions that Good people do. There are millions of dollars that can made off of people who ignore the laws when it comes to tinting front windows on their vehicles. Tax them! There are thousands of people who want to live in the forest and then call for fire protection, tax them! People who cause tracffic accidents which clearly are caused by their ignoring driving conditions and laws, tax them! The time has come when bad people-aka irresponsible and plain thought to all other people around- should be charged for their bad behavior. The time has when good people should stand up and say enough is enough, we no longer want to foot the bill. The current thinking Sacramento and every local government is tax the good people, they will pay it regardless if they require the service or not. Just think of how safer our highways would be once the bad people tax takes effect!

[Steffen]

We have a revenue problem more than a spending problem, although something of both. Everyone claims there is waste to cut (there is) but no one wants programs cut that benefit themselves. I recommend and strongly support the following:

1. Repeal Proposition 13. It subsidizes people who have owned property for a long time at the expense of newer/often younger property owners, distorts commercial and residential land uses (i.e. crummy commercial uses on nice streets that sit there forever), and most of all starves the state of much needed cash.

2. Introduce congestion pricing fees for crowded freeways and roads. Everyone wants to reduce traffic. This can greatly help while generating much needed revenue.

3. Raise the state gasoline tax - even by $1.00/gallon and put some of that money into better transit options for people who decide to drive less. This would also result in some traffic reduction benefits (though fewer than #2 above), but far more revenue as well.

Let's tax the behavior that needs to be reigned in, not behavior that we want to encourage.

[John Hain, M.D.]

California deserves to be the first state to redesign its governing systems by inviting citizens to collaborate by means of wikis. Once there is a consensus about the essential function(s) of an existing or proposed government program or department, the public, especially those being served and those with relevant knowledge and experience, can design and modify the system so that it will operate simply, efficiently, and effectively.

A collaborative wiki approach to making improvements in government can create a more flexible and adaptable system, responsive to the will, wisdom, and ingenuity of its interested citizenry. Who knows, perhaps even elected representatives will become a thing of the past.

[Praetorian]

I think that we need to take a real close look at illegals who may be accessing social service programs with fraudulent documentation verifying their citizenship. I think the number, especially in cities like L.A., is potentially huge. It's like peeling away layers of an onion. You start with the easiest an outermost layer first. An illegal, even if they demonstrate need for a program through age or disability, are by default not eligible because eligibility is contingent upon first being a citizen. I know there will be those who say I am cruel or that I am bashing immigrants. This is not the case and we need to differentiate between 'legal immigrant' and illegal alien. The first category are citizens and I believe we should take care of our own. The second category can return to the country of their origin and obtain the services they need. We can't afford it any longer. That's not cruel it's just reality.

[Kathy Sanders]

I don't think that Ca. will be fixed any time soon as long as Schwarzenegger remains in control of Ca. His ideas of fixing the budget are taking from the poor and giving to the rich or at least letting them keep what they have. In January when people on disability got their cost of living raise, It went through without a hitch until April when all disability patients were informed the state of Ca. would be taking back $36.00 a month. No explanition just that was the way it would be. No indication when it would end or if it ever would. So I guess the United States government gives it to us and the State of Ca. takes it away. I didn't like his movies either.

[Jeremy]

California is unique in how representatives vote on taxes and budgets. Until a new constitution is drafted for California, these problems will continue to exist.

[tkyang]

"Are illegal immigrants part of the problem, the whole problem"

Yes and yes