State Controller Finds Budget Did Not Balance On Paper

SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang today announced that his analysis of the State budget vetoed last week shows the spending plan was incomplete and unbalanced. His analysis sought to determine whether the budget met the requirements of Proposition 25 and Proposition 58, which forfeit Legislative pay if a balanced budget is not passed by June 15.

“My office’s careful review of the recently-passed budget found components that were miscalculated, miscounted or unfinished,” said Chiang. “The numbers simply did not add up, and the Legislature will forfeit their pay until a balanced budget is sent to the Governor.”

Proposition 25, titled the “On-Time Budget Act of 2010,” was approved by voters November 2, 2010. The initiative lowered the vote requirement for passing a budget from two-thirds to a simple majority without lowering the two-thirds vote required for tax increases. It also forfeits Legislators’ pay and living expenses incurred from June 16 until “the day that the budget bill is presented to the Governor.”

Nothing in the Constitution or state law gives the State Controller the authority to judge the honesty, legitimacy or viability of a budget. The Controller can only determine whether the expected revenues will equal or exceed planned expenditures in the budget, as required by Article 4, Section 12(g) of the Constitution: “. . .the Legislature may not send to the Governor for consideration, nor may the Governor sign into law, a budget bill that would appropriate from the General Fund, for that fiscal year, a total amount that. . .exceeds General Fund revenues for that fiscal year estimated as of the date of the budget bill's passage. That estimate of General Fund revenues shall be set forth in the budget bill passed by the Legislature.”

“While the vetoed budget contains solutions of questionable achievability and some to which I am personally opposed, current law provides no authority for my office to second-guess them in my enforcement of Proposition 25,”said Chiang. “My job is not to substitute my policy judgment for that of the Legislature and the Governor, rather it is to be the honest-broker of the numbers.”

Using this standard, the Controller’s analysis found that the recently-vetoed budget committed the State to $89.75 billion in spending, but only provided $87.9 billion in revenues, leaving an imbalance of $1.85 billion.

The largest problem involved the guaranteed level of education funding under Proposition 98. The June 15 budget underfunded education by more than $1.3 billion. Underfunding is not possible without suspending Proposition 98, which would require a supermajority (2/3) vote of the Legislature.

The budget also counted on $320 million in hospital fees, $103 million in taxes on managed-care plans, and $300 million in vehicle registration charges. However, the Legislature never passed the bills necessary to collect or spend those funds as part of the State budget.

A summary of the Controller’s analysis of the authorized expenditures versus the estimated revenues can be found on the Controller’s website at www.sco.ca.gov.

OC Register: Hearings Tuesday on Edison [13%] rate increase

(from FRED SWEGLES for the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)

The public is invited to a pair of hearings the California Public Utilities Commission will conduct Tuesday in San Clemente to solicit comments about Southern California Edison's request for a 12.87 percent general rate increase during the next three years. It's intended to cover Edison's projected costs in the three-year period, PUC spokesman Andrew Kotch said.

An administrative law judge will hear testimony at 2 and 7 p.m. Tuesday in the San Clemente Community Center at Avenida Del Mar and Calle Seville. The judge then will weigh the evidence in coming months before issuing a decision the PUC will be asked to vote on.

The average household's monthly bill would increase about $5 and would remain at the national average, SCE spokesman Gil Alexander said. Edison says the increase is needed to invest in improvements to maintain the reliability and security of the region's power-delivery grid.

Edison provides electric service to more than 14 million people in more than 180 cities in a 50,000-square-mile area of central, coastal and Southern California.

Will US Invade Syriia

After decades of violent religious and political persecutions it seems odd that the US has not invaded Syria. The absence of US intervention is only made more poignant when we have aircraft over half a dozen or more middle eastern cities and troop s in as many.
Over and over reporters from various news agencies tell the horrors of men, women, and children who are tortured and murdered at the hands of the Syrian government.

Syrian troops using terror tactics on protesters
More brutality in Syria as refugee camps swell
Syria's latest crackdown kills 33; girl dies
Syrian boy's brutal death rouses protesters

It is heartbreaking to hear about innocent civilians being tortured and murdered, but when it is a child that suffers, the father in me wants to chase down and destroy the evil.

Our soldiers are fighting throughout the world. I can think of no more important mission than the safeguarding of the defenseless against an unimaginable evil. 

Children are God's greatest gift. Please say a prayer for all of them.

Congressman Tom McClintock Calls for End to Redevelopment Agencies

(from www.StopTheMoneyPit.com)

Joining a chorus of organizations representing private property rights, taxpayers and faith based organizations, conservative stalwart Congressman Tom McClintock is calling for an end to California's 425 redevelopment agencies. In a YouTube video, the Congressman calls out RDAs for abusing private property rights and wasteful government spending, including $6.9 million for a mermaid bar.  He points out that local taxpayer dollars that would otherwise go to local police and fire protection are going into the pockets of politically connected interests. 

Click Here to Watch!

  

In recent weeks, conservative leaders and organizations have been calling on Republican legislators to abandon their support for RDAs. In March of this year, Governor Brown's effort to abolish RDAs failed due to Republican opposition, despite independent analysis that concluded that there is no reliable evidence that redevelopment creates net new jobs.

A website, www.StopTheMoneyPit.com, was launched to build public support for SB 77 and AB 101, legislation that abolishes RDAs.

Congressman McClintock urges you to contact your state legislator!  Click here to find out who represents you in the California State Legislature.