I’m leaving tomorrow for a ten-day vacation. Will California’s legislature have a budget by the time I return?
Republicans in the State Senate want a balanced budget. State Senator Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) told the Flash Report, “Senate Republicans have placed on the table for consideration by the Democrats a plan that reduces the operating deficit to zero.” That’s what the Republicans want.
The GOP budget proposal has cuts—cuts in welfare spending, cuts in unfilled positions in state government, and cuts that do not impact education, public safety, and environmental programs.
However, the Democrats don’t like these cuts. They hit Democratic constituencies, so they oppose them. However, for any budget to pass the legislature, it must have a 2/3 vote in each house. Though the Democrats have a majority in each house, they must get Republican votes to pass a budget.
The GOP is united, and part of this stems from a silly stunt that State Senate President Pro Tem, Don Perata, did. He locked the entire State Senate in the chamber for 30 hours, figuring that by doing so he would force two Republicans (the number needed to defect to pass the budget) to join with the Democrats.
It backfired.
Meanwhile, in coming days we will see more impacts in California. I don’t know if we will see a state government shutdown (such as occurred earlier this year for a few days in Pennsylvania or last year in New Jersey). This will hurt government workers.
California does need to look at the budget and view it honestly. A balanced budget is required under the state constitution. It would be nice if our legislators in Sacramento actually obeyed the law.
As to the chance there’s a budget on August 6th (when I return), I think the odds are still even money.