Special report from Sacramento
A 20-person delegation of SLO Chamber and City leaders recently spent two days in Sacramento. We quickly found ourselves immersed in a swirl of state budget problems of epic proportions. Our conclusion: No matter how bad you think the state’s budget mess is, it’s actually worse, much worse.
We went there to get a better understanding of how the crisis will affect San Luis Obispo and to convince legislators to protect our local state parks from closing. But our message was up against a flood of bad news and tough questions: “Do you think it’s more important to keep a park open or to provide home care for a 90-year old woman who could die if we don’t provide it?” “Painful,” brutal,” and “historic” were the words used to describe the cuts that will be made.
After spending two days with legislators and top agency officials from the Department of Finance, Controller’s Office and Department of Parks, it became clear that facing a $24 billion deficit (larger than the entire budget of many states) spending cuts of 20-25 percent will be the target. Here’s what else you can expect in the next few weeks:
- Most state parks will be closed for at least a few years, although Hearst Castle and Oceano Dunes seem likely to stay open because they don’t depend on the General Fund.
- The City of SLO will likely get whacked with another $1-1.5 million hit through the “loan” provisions of Prop. 1A .
- CSU and the University of California will be hit hard with the possible closing of some smaller, newer campuses.
- State employees’ salaries will be 15 percent less this coming fiscal year.
On the more positive side
- Higher taxes are unlikely (reminder: we just had $12 billion in new taxes in February)
- The crisis is so severe that there’s actually a chance that there will be some fundamental budget reforms.
- The legislators have a practical deadline of mid-June if they are to avert a cash crisis complete melt-down in July.
|
