State Budget, Local Impact

If you want to know why Speaker Karen Bass is talking very loudly about a federal bailout for California, you just have to read the local papers.

The Merced Sen-Star:

At Tuesday’s board meeting Superintendent Terry Brace explained the district will lose $3.5 million under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget plan.

If that passes, the district’s three percent reserve will be pushed to the limit to cover expenses. Brace said the aim will be to maintain educational programs first. After that, “we want to cut things and not people,” he said.

The Hanford Sentinel:

Kings County officials implemented a hiring freeze Tuesday as one of several measures to circumvent anticipated funding cuts from the state in the midst of a faltering economy. The county had already been on a limited or "soft" hiring freeze since July 1, the freeze affecting only positions that won't affect the basic level of service. No reduction in staffing levels were being considered.

County Administrative Officer Larry Spikes says it's a necessary measure to protect the county's fiscal health in light of the worsening state budget crisis underscored last week by the governor's call for a special session to close the deficit. Never before in California history has a governor called an "extraordinary session" so late in the year.

The Modesto Bee:

Efforts to close an $11.2 billion state budget deficit have shaken up the state's Healthy Families program, which provides health care to about 13,300 children and pregnant women in Stanislaus County.

Next month, the state is preparing to freeze enrollment in the program, which provides medical, dental and vision care to children whose families earn too much to receive Medi-Cal but can't afford private insurance. If the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board approves the proposal Dec. 17, families trying to enroll children will be placed on a waiting list at least until June 30.

This is what's happening in this state, at precisely the wrong time. During an economic downturn, with the attendant job loss, people need more services, not less. It's the perverse cycle of constrained state budgets with their balanced budget amendments that they need to cut back precisely when they should be expanding. In a downturn, government must be the spender of last resort, yet the state Constitution doesn't allow it. And cutting the budget to get it in balance during this greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression would be an absolute disaster. And frankly, the Yacht Party isn't going to agree to anything sensible.

It would be better for all involved if the entire Democratic caucus decamped from Sacramento to Washington and sat outside Nancy Pelosi's office until a stimulus package with aid to state and local governments passed. Otherwise, the local stories are going to get worse and worse.