Budget May Revise.
The proposed California budget for next year says that income will be $15.7 billion less than expected.
The report is here.
http://www.dof.ca.gov/documents/2012-13_May_Revision.pdf
California does not have enough money to continue the
funding of schools, universities, fire and safety, and social services at their present levels. The Republican Party has consistently
refused to raise taxes. So, the
Republican legislative blocking
has forced the following cuts:
MediCal, child care, Cal Works, Nursing homes, In Home
Supportive Services, Cal Grants ( college tuition), and a forced employee pay
cuts (5%) – such as a 4 day work week.
These cuts are from the current budget. The May Revision provides level
funding for k-12 schools.
If the tax proposals are not passed in November, there will
be an additional $5.6 billion dollars
cut from K-12 schools. These are called trigger cuts. They will be automatic if the
initiative is not passed.
These draconian cuts are imposed because the state will not-
or can not – deal with corporate tax evasions. We know of $10 billion in tax evasions from Apple, and there
probably is a similar tax evasion by Google, Yahoo, and other internet
companies.
California is Not Broke , but corporate tax subsidies
are destroying our schools.
We suffer from two problems: a huge concentration of income
at the very top of the income distribution and a tax system that fails to
tax that concentration. Our tax system asks those with less to
pay more and those with more to pay less.
The state fell
over $6 billion behind state forecasts for this year. Thus, the
legislature again faces cuts as
proposed by the Governor. More cuts to schools, more cuts to social
services, health care, child support, police and fire protection.
This approach to economics is called austerity. It doesn’t work. Governor Brown cited Ireland, Greece,
and Spain in his budget talk, but he continued the policies that have ruined
these economies. hAusterity is
being tried in Greece, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, and Ireland, among others.
It does not work. Austerity makes the economy worse – and thus
further reductions of tax receipts and further cuts.
The economic
crisis of 2007 to the present made matters worse. The state took in some
$30 billion less in taxes and thus had less to send to the schools.
School budgets have been cut by some $10 billion. K-12 education receives
about 40% of the California budget. Thus any decline in the state budget
leads directly to cuts in school services.
The question for the corporate agenda, promoted by the Chamber of
Commerce among others is can the economy prosper with a poorly educated
work force. California grew and prospered from 1970- 1994 based upon a
well educated work force. Then, in the 1994-2008 period over $10 billion
of tax cuts were passed – making the current crisis much worse. Last week we learned that Apple, and other
corporations, are avoiding over $10 billion in taxes by moving one small office
to Nevada. California suffers from a decade of corporate
tax cuts and public disinvestment. Today, instead of following the
education approach, conservative anti tax forces have imposed an
Mississippi approach on California.
California public
schools are in crisis- and they are getting worse. This is a direct result of
massive budget cuts imposed by the legislature and the governor in the last
four years. Total per pupil expenditure is down by over $1,000 per student.
The result- massive class size increases. Students are in often classes
too large for learning. Supplementary services such as tutoring and art
classes have been eliminated. Over 14,000 teachers have been dismissed,
and thousands more face lay offs this fall. This is not the fault of
teachers.
California schools are now 47th. in the nation in per pupil expenditure and
49th in class
size. Our low achievement scores on national tests reflect this severe
underfunding.
California suffers
from a decade of disinvestment in education and in infrastructure.
We need to invest in roads, bridges, telephone lines,
communications systems, parks, clean energy and quality education. These
are the down payments that make prosperity possible. The Republican
Party is blocking all efforts to raise taxes ignoring the undeniable
historic fact that prosperity depends upon having a viable educational
system and a well functioning infrastructure. And the Democrats in the
legislature and the governor’s office are simply saying, “we must cut”, the
Republicans make us do this.
We have a
stalemate at the state and national level and this government dysfunction makes
the current depression last longer. We will have an
opportunity in November to slow the decline, but not to reverse the policy. This depression will continue until we
require the corporations to pay their share of taxes. They benefit from the taxes. They get roads, bridges, an educated work force, police and
fire protection, etc.
As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell
Holmes said, "Taxes are what we pay for civilized
society.''
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