Our budget process has become a quagmire

Drafting state budgets in California was once a fairly straightforward exercise in fiscal politics.

The governor’s budget gnomes could fairly accurately predict how much tax revenue would be generated over the forthcoming fiscal year, particularly since most of it would come from taxes on retail sales, a stable base. An initial budget was issued in January and it would be revised in May after the April 15 deadline for personal income taxes provided more specificity. Legislative leaders of both parties huddled, sometimes with the governor, and a final budget emerged.

Letters to the Editor

Climate change column

EDITOR: co-signers and seemed destined for quick passage. “Not so fast,” said Senate GOP Leader Bill Frist. Mitch McConnell, Frist’s eventual successor, had convinced Frist that immigration reform was good national policy, but bad politics.

Scott Taylor claims in his letter that the Mountain Democrat was spreading misinformation by publishing our article on climate change that is based on peer reviewed research. He states that thousands of scientists have published volumes of research that climate change is real.

Immigrants and their families are generally compassionate and empathetic to the plight of the helpless and the dispossessed — a core Democratic constituency. Why should Republicans help Democrats solve an issue that will, eventually, produce Democratic voters?

SUMMARY

Yes, there were some conflicts. Budgets took two-thirds votes of both legislative houses so the final product needed bipartisan support. Republicans, usually in the minority, would sometimes withhold votes until their demands were met. Over time, however, the budget process became a political quagmire, in part because the ideological divisions in the Capitol became more pronounced.

As Democrats drifted to the left and Republicans to the right, what once was collegial sparring became holy war. But that was not the only factor.

As California’s array of services expanded so did the number of budget stakeholders seeking larger pieces of the pie or protecting what they had. The field of play became immensely larger after voters passed Proposition 13, the iconic property tax limit, in 1978 and the state became the basic financier of schools and a big factor in local government budgets.

The pie itself changed. The importance of sales taxes in the revenue stream gave way to dominance by personal income taxes, which are inherently less predictable, particularly since most are paid by relatively few taxpayers in upper income tiers.

As Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest budget proposal notes, “California’s progressive tax system, where

■ See WALTERS page A5

Guest Column

We don’t dispute that climate change is real — but it’s not controlled by greenhouse gases. Atmospheric pressure and solar radiation control the climate and we have the data to prove that, as stated in the article. The IPCC has no proof that greenhouse gases are changing the climate. In fact, Steve Koonin’s states in his book, “Unsettled”, the IPCC climate models are worse now than they were in 1960 and that there is no proof that CO2 is significantly impacting our climate.

Would Mr. Taylor like to produce a formula that actually calculates the temperature of the Earth based on a CO2 warming model? Probably not, because it doesn’t exist. Who are the scientists that have reviewed Dr. Nikolov’s work? The same ones who are funded by the U.S. government to prove that CO2 causes warming?

Mr. Taylor claims validity because thousands of scientists have published greenhouse gas-based articles on climate change. Note that this model is based on basic gas law physics and the Stefan Bolzman law that have been known for over 150 years.

Most scientists didn’t believe in quantum mechanics in the early 20th century because Newton’s laws were violated. They didn’t believe Galileo when he wrote that the earth revolved around the sun not vice versa. The greenhouse gas theory of warming is the biggest hoax in human history, according to MIT Professor Richard Lindzen.

DARWIN THRONE El Dorado Hills

The gift that keeps on giving EDITOR:

In 2005 Sens. Ted Kennedy (D) and John McCain (R) introduced The Orderly Immigration Act. It had several GOP

During the Trump administration, while it also controlled both Houses of Congress, the GOP was forced to “do something.” It chose building a $45 billion wall and acting tough by separating parents from their children and housing them in immigrant “Guantanamos.” Today, there are still more than 1,000 children who have not yet been reunited with their parents.

The Kennedy-McCain bill died from Republican “poison pill” amendments that made it unacceptable to everyone. Republicans have yet to o er a permanent solution to our immigration problems and they never will because it’s a political gift that keeps on giving.

JOHN GARON Placerville

Looking for help (and politeness)

EDITOR:

Ihave sent three or four letters to El Dorado County Health and Human Services this spring to assure county sta that my situation has not changed and that I am still helping my husband care for his mother, who has dementia and has been receiving hospice care since September 2021, I believe. Neither of us is earning.

I have received three threatening texts regarding my medical coverage about the consequences if I don’t fill out and return the contents of a certain packet, which is promised but which I have not received. I spent a lot of time on a recent morning trying to speak with a person who works with HHSA without success. I was told by a machine that my case was now in Shingle Springs without any information about that o ce’s whereabouts.

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Congressman Kevin Kiley is fighting for seniors

The past several years have been tough for California seniors and those on fixed income. Out-ofcontrol inflation, an ever-increasing cost of living and gas and grocery prices that always seem to be rising have left many struggling to make ends meet.

The reckless spending and higher taxes championed by politicians in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., are directly responsible for crushing Californians under the weight of inflation. Even worse, decades of federal spending binges have put critical programs our nation’s seniors rely upon — Social Security and Medicare — at risk of insolvency.

Our country is at a crossroads — continue down the same failed path and descend further into crisis or embark on a necessary course correction with sustainable fiscal policies — and many political leaders are asleep at the wheel. After advocating for seniors and working to protect Social Security and Medicare for more than 30 years at the American Association for Senior Citizens, I was heartened to watch Rep. Kevin Kiley emerge as a key leader fighting to protect Social Security and Medicare in Washington and advocate for fiscally responsible policies that will finally get our debt under control.

Unlike many Washington politicians, Kiley recognizes that Congress must uphold its commitment to our nation’s seniors. He understands that Social Security and Medicare benefits are directly drawn from the contributions that seniors have made to those programs throughout their working lives. Rep. Kiley will vote against any cuts to Social Security or Medicare benefits and is working tirelessly to ensure seniors receive the benefits they are entitled to.

Kiley’s o ce has been instrumental in helping seniors across the eastern Sierra and Sacramento region receive their Social Security and Medicare benefits, from navigating the government website to even helping seniors who have had their identity stolen. He is encouraging any seniors having issues with obtaining Social Security or Medicare benefits to call his o ce at (916) 724-2575 and his sta is standing by, ready to assist.

For his leadership in fighting for seniors, I was proud to present Kiley with the Guardian of Seniors’ Rights Award on behalf of the American Association of Senior Citizens.

For his leadership in fighting for seniors, I was proud to present Kiley with the Guardian of Seniors’ Rights Award on behalf of the American Association of Senior Citizens. Leaders like Kiley are protecting critical programs like Social Security and Medicare from their biggest threat: out-of-control borrowing and spending that will drive them into insolvency and threaten the benefits of millions of seniors across America.

In fact, Kiley collaborated with his colleagues to pass the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 to set our nation back on a sustainable fiscal path. The act saves taxpayers $4.8 trillion over 10 years by restraining Washington’s spending habits and spurring economic growth, thereby reducing the threat to Social Security and Medicare.

This legislation is only Kiley’s latest step in fighting for seniors. He has been focused like a laser since day one on reducing inflation to ease the burden on those with fixed income.

Among other steps, in March he voted to pass landmark legislation, H.R. 1, that would lower gas and grocery prices, reduce utility bills and make everyday goods more a ordable.

California seniors deserve to live through their retirement with economic security. At a time when many politicians are putting that at risk, seniors have a leader delivering real results to improve their daily lives and a true champion in Rep. Kevin Kiley.

Saul Anuzis serves as the president of the American Association of Senior Citizens.

Walters Continued from A4 nearly half of all personal income tax in the state is paid by the top 1% of earners, has contributed to extreme budget volatility over the years.”

That volatility is the chief reason for the budget’s projection of a $31.5 billion deficit just 12 months after Newsom declared that the state had a $97 billion surplus and bragged, “No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this.”

Not only have revenues become structurally less predictable, but they also have become subject to changes in national and global economies.

The revised budget’s deficit is projected even without a recession, but were there an even modest downturn — which many economists expect due to the Federal Reserve’s sharp hikes in interest rates to battle inflation — the state would take a big hit.

“Based on a moderate recession scenario in fiscal year 2023-24, revenues could decrease by $40 billion in 2023-24 alone, largely driven by losses in personal income tax,” the budget declares. “Revenue declines relative to the May Revision forecast could reach an additional $100 billion through 2026-27.”

Revenue declines of those magnitudes would quickly consume the state’s seemingly hefty “rainy day” reserves.

Budgets no longer require two-thirds legislative votes and Democrats have overwhelming legislative majorities but that, ironically, is another complicating factor.

Periodic revenue surges, such as last year’s $97 billion paper surplus, whet appetites of Democrats’ allies, such as unions and social welfare and medical care advocates, for additional spending and generate resistance when times get tough.

Newsom’s budget would put the brakes on spending, including clawing back some appropriations from last year. Advocacy groups are leaning on friendly legislators to do whatever is necessary to keep the money flowing, including tax increases and/or tapping into the reserves.

One-party control of the Capitol may change the specifics of fiscal politics, but doesn’t make them any simpler.

Dan Walters is a journalist and author who writes for CALmatters.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Letters Continued from A4

I am 81 years old and do not text nor plan to. I can read them, however, and staff is to be congratulated on their unpleasant tone. Surely there must be someone in this outfit who communicates well. How do I find them?

ELIZABETH CAFFREY Placerville