Schwarzenegger says California's budget gap might hit $7 billion

[unhappycamper]

Schwarzenegger says California's budget gap might hit $7 billion
By Kevin Yamamura | The Sacramento Bee
Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger estimated Monday that California's budget will fall out of balance by $5 billion to $7 billion this fiscal year, on top of a $7.4 billion gap already projected for 2010-11.

If true, state leaders would confront at least a $12.4 billion to $14.4 billion problem when Schwarzenegger releases his budget in January. California currently has an $84.6 billion general fund budget.

The Republican governor spoke with The Fresno Bee editorial board Monday after signing a bill placing a water bond on the November 2010 ballot.

He emphasized deep spending cuts as a budget solution but did not mention tax increases. Schwarzenegger and legislators agreed to cuts to education and social services, as well as temporary tax hikes, in two budget deals earlier this year.

"We are not out of the woods yet. ... The key thing is, we have to go and still make cuts and still rein in the spending," Schwarzenegger said. "It will be tougher because I think the low-hanging fruits and the medium-hanging fruits are all gone. I think that now we are going to the high-hanging fruits, and very tough decisions still have to be made."


Rest of article at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/310/story/78605.html



unhappycamper comment: That's almost two weeks worth of occupation costs.

[exboyfil]

1. Or about twice what we already lost with CIT

and probably only about .1% of what the total financial bail out will cost.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. State deficit of NJ is $8 billion.

More bucks per square mile than California.

[tularetom]

3. It's actually worse than that

Schickelgruber used a bunch of accounting hocus pocus to achieve a fake balance this year like moving up revenues for the first month of the next fiscal year and moving back expenses for the last month of the current year. Thanks to his mismanagement and refusal to raise taxes or make cuts in the proper places, as well as the built in effect of the voters "tax revolt" of 1978 (Prop 13) the state will teeter on the edge of bankruptcy until somebody with balls comes along and straightens out state budgeting and taxation problems.

Nobody likes what is going on now, but we all voted these problems on ourselves.

[phantom power]

4. This is going to be a downward spiral until the repeal of Prop-13.