A flurry of budget related news pieces and op-eds in the Union-Tribune the last two days. Yesterday’s U-T editorial shouldn’t get lost in the mix:
Arnold the spender
Governor’s budget makes dicey assumptions
For all of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s boundless confidence in his ability to "restore, reform, rebuild" California, the governor’s execution of his big plans has often been lacking. That was evident last year when most of the reform initiatives he endorsed were poorly drafted. With the measures already a tough sell, their flaws were compounded by Schwarzenegger’s confrontational campaign style, which made the reforms seem more of a power grab than a noble attempt to end Sacramento’s dysfunction.
Unfortunately, it’s beginning to look as if the 2006 model Schwarzenegger also isn’t going to live up to his grand rhetoric. The 2006-07 budget the governor unveiled yesterday – a $97.9 billion fiscal plan that increases spending by 8 percent – is a disappointment. The plan has a few excellent ideas, such as paying back $920 million in Proposition 42 transportation money that had been diverted to the general fund. But thanks to another sharp hike in K-12 education spending, not only does the governor’s proposal continue the recent history of budgets that don’t come close to balancing – calling for the state to spend about $4.7 billion more than it takes in – but the plan also makes the budget more difficult to balance in coming years.
Read it in its entirety here.
Also, today, an Ed Mendel news story, Governor’s budget would widen gap, and — for balance perhaps — both Dennis Hollingsworth and Christine Kehoe have op-eds on the budget proposal.
Dennis asks, "So what’s in this budget to praise?" Christine says, "There is much to praise in his plan."
Praise or pray, you tell me here.