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GOVERNOR SIGNS BUDGET AND PROTECTS PUBLIC LIBRARIES FROM "BLUE PENCIL" VETOES
On Friday, July 24th, the Legislature passed and sent to the Governor its third state Budget within the last ten months. The Budget was accompanied by twenty seven "trailer bills" that were necessary to implement cuts to education, various cuts and reforms to Health and Human Services, cuts to the State Department of Corrections, consolidation of several state agencies and boards, and a few "side deals" that were necessary to obtain the two thirds vote required in both houses. In order to solve the $26 billion Budget deficit, the four legislative leaders and the Governor agreed to a package that included: more than $15 billion in cuts, an agreement to borrow or permanently take $3.7 billion from local government, accelerate personal and corporate income taxes, shift $1 billion in payments to schools in future years, and took advantage, wherever other borrowings were possible. This morning, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the 2009-2010 State Budget Revision in a small press room within the Governor's suite of offices. Thankfully, when the Governor released his Budget vetoes, concurrent with the Budget signing, he spared public library programs from any reductions.
In a modest event held with no legislative leaders present, but flanked by his Budget and fiscal staff, the Governor noted that the Budget he was about to sign represented "the good, the bad, and the ugly." He explained that the "good" portion of the Budget represented no new taxes, a government that would live within its means, and elimination of costly boards and commissions. He then noted that the "bad" represented "the kinds of cuts to education, vulnerable citizens, law enforcement... That's why you don't see a celebration here today." He concluded by offering that the "ugly" segment was coined "because the legislature gave me a Budget with a $156 million negative reserve. So I had to go in and make additional cuts." The Governor added, "I always insisted on a half a billion in reserves," and he explained that he had used his "blue pencil" authority to cut $656 million from the Budget sent to him by the legislature, in order to shore up the reserve. He said a modest reserve was necessary as California is prone to natural disasters and "fire season is all year round."
The Governor took full ownership of the cuts he unveiled this morning, stating, "I am the only one responsible for these cuts." Most of the Governor's cuts will be hard-hitting as they are in the areas of health and human services and corrections. For example, the Governor is eliminating $52 million in funding for various programs administered by the Office of AIDS (Education and Prevention, Counseling and Testing, etc.), $16 million for the Domestic Violence Program, $25 million reduction to the Primary and Rural Health Program, $80 million reduction from the county-run Child Welfare Services Program, and the list goes on and on. As previously mentioned, public libraries - more specifically the Public Library Foundation, the Transaction Based Reimbursement program, and the literacy programs, were all protected from the Governor's "blue pencil." This is certainly a modicum of good news, in an otherwise difficult Budget year.
As the Governor correctly opined during his press conference today, "We are not out of troubled waters yet."
The state legislature is currently on summer recess and will return to the State Capitol on August 17th to conclude its work for the first half of the 2009-2010 session.
Submitted by Michael Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists
Posted on July 28, 2009 2:55 PM | Permalink