Word: budgeter
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Even if the controversial budget measures pass, state officials say California must still trim $15.4 billion from its budget. If the propositions fail, as the polls portend, Schwarzenegger says the necessary cuts climb to more than $21 billion. (His proposals do not include tax increases. The governor and legislators already filled a $40 billion budget hole in February in part with $12.8 billion in temporary tax hikes...
...latest polls show all the propositions but one, 1F ("No Pay Increases for Legislators During Times of State Budget Deficits"), going down to defeat. Special elections are notorious for low voter turnout, and many Californians, including those who have bothered to read the 52 pages of pro and con arguments in the Official Voter Information Guide, are baffled by the hodgepodge of measures, a mixture of liberal and conservative ideas on budgeting that critics say is less than coherent. (Read about how the financial outlook for states is getting worse...
...crisis is compounded by the way California's government works. In most states, the legislature can pass a budget by simple majority vote. The politicians haggle and horse-trade, but a budget eventually gets passed and life moves on. In the Golden State, bitter partisanship is exacerbated by a constitutional rule requiring a two-thirds majority in the legislature to pass either a budget or new taxes. Meanwhile, the state's nearly 100-year-old system of ballot initiatives has progressively tied state government in Gordian knots...
...result, California's budget process has an Alice in Wonderland quality. One confused voter, in an online letter to the Los Angeles Times, quoted Winnie the Pooh: 'This all makes my head hurt a bit." Regarding Proposition 1A, which would place long-term spending restrictions on state government and extend already approved taxes up to two years, the voter wrote: "Why do they need a new rainy-day fund when we already have two? ... The rest of the measures are even more confusing and convoluted. How can they expect us - with our own lives to manage - to sort...
Early in his term, Schwarzenegger tried to pass a series of conservative reform initiatives only to be soundly defeated by liberals led by the powerful California Teachers Association (CTA). This time around Schwarzenegger has let the CTA and other interest groups lead the effort to pass the budget measures. But the relatively few voters following the arguments largely remain skeptical of the proponents' basic message: "Trust us, these measures will fix the problem...