In fewer than 21 days, California may undergo a cash shortage that could result in more unemployment, education cuts and terminations of government programs.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked for $7 billion in federal aid to pay for government expenses post-Oct. 28. According to the governor, the need for aid is due to the national credit freeze from the current economic crisis that prevents states from receiving routine state loans. According to the Los Angeles Times, without the loans the state cannot make necessary payments to schools and government-funded programs, and may have to lay off state employees.
Although it is understandable that a state cannot function properly without its routine loans, the government’s blame on the current economic situation for California’s need for $7 billion in three weeks’ time falls short of a complete explanation of the cash deficiency the state faces. Perhaps in an effort to save face, state legislators have failed to mention their inadequate performance in providing a timely and well-allocated budget.
In 2007, the state cut more than $400 million in education. In 2008, $637.6 million was cut in transportation, housing and community development, and higher education fees rose by 24.8 percent beginning this year.
Having made these cuts, the government should have the funding to account for the loans it is unable to obtain because of the credit freeze. I am compelled to ask: Where did all the money go?
The governor’s reason for proposing so many budget cuts and changes was to help lower California’s $15-billion debt and to provide a better means for allocating state funding to those programs and areas that needed them most. He even cut 10,300 temporary state employees’ jobs and reduced pay for 200,000 state workers this past summer to push state legislators into completing the state budget, which not only implemented more cuts, but was 85 days late in being approved ““ another factor adding to the state’s cash crisis.
And now, as Oct. 28 is quickly approaching, the state may be unable to pay the $3 billion that is due to more than 1,000 school districts.
The repercussions this will have for employed teachers and school programs may lead to one of the greatest financial crises the state has confronted as a result of possible unemployment.
According to state officials, the impending crisis could be worse than the one California endured in 2003 that helped oust former Gov. Gray Davis and usher in the dead-end solutions of Schwarzenegger.
The deficiencies the state currently faces are not only due to the problems on Wall Street, but also to the ineptitude of our state leaders to budget and coordinate funding in a timely and appropriate manner. Regardless of the nation’s dependence on the $700 billion bailout, all of the aforementioned cuts and increases in fees the state implemented for 2008-2009 should have somewhat helped prevent the crisis in which the state now finds itself.
As the most populous state in the nation with the 35th-largest economy in the world, California once boasted of its ability to stand as a nation by itself. However, the incapability of our state leaders to utilize the efforts and revenues it makes in taxes from the state’s large workforce has led to the lack of funding the state now experiences. Furthermore, their inability to provide stable planning will continue to pose problems should state legislators ignore their own shortcomings with respect to the crisis.
By simply blaming the state’s economic issues on the single factor of Wall Street’s blunder further demonstrates their deficient leadership skills and points to the governor’s sole solution to problems through the termination of future budget programs.
I guess that’s what we get for choosing a state leader who is better known as the Terminator.