Julie Small
May 21, 2009
Listen
Now that California voters have slapped aside a ballot-ful of budget-balancing schemes, everyone in Sacramento is trying to figure what to do now. The legislature's independent analyst today offered his opinion. He says it's time for the state government to borrow a lot - and cut even more. KPCC's Julie Small reports.
Mac Taylor: We clearly have very severe problems.
Julie Small: That's Mac Taylor – the state's legislative analyst. He advises the legislature on fiscal policy. Taylor and his 50-person team just reviewed the governor's proposals to close the state's budget deficit:
Taylor: And we found that even if the legislature were to adopt each and every one of the Governor's proposals, that 2010-11 – that is the fiscal year after this year – the state would still have an operating deficit of over $15 billion.
Small: But Taylor says lawmakers should focus just on closing this year's deficit. To do that, he's urging lawmakers to adopt the governor's plan to borrow $2 billion from the state's 58 counties. California law allows that twice a decade, as long as the state pays back the money within a couple of years.
Taylor says the state could borrow from local transportation and gas tax funds. And to get the rest of the money to cover the deficit, Taylor says there's only one thing left to do:
Taylor: We are in the near term going to have to reduce some services.
Small: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor says cuts to education, public safety, and health and human services are unavoidable. He says the governor and the legislature should protect the programs and departments that Californians need most. After that, Taylor says they should be prepared to cut back what's left – and even scrap some of it.
