Thanks for this image, John.
calgov2002:
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Posted on 12/20/2002 11:40:24 AM PST by John Jorsett
SACRAMENTO – Looking back at his first term, Gov. Gray Davis yesterday said he has no regrets about his handling of the energy and budget crises, and he attributed his close re-election to a national Republican tide.
The governor was in no mood for a public display of introspective self-criticism as he met with a large group of reporters in his Capitol office to discuss his first four-year term as California's chief executive.
"If you ask me if I would have done anything differently the last four years, the answer is 'no,' " said Davis, a Democrat.
"I wish I could have been able to communicate more clearly to people why we were doing things – why the energy crisis, for example, was so difficult to deal with," he said.
As Davis sat beside a desk plaque bearing the words, he said the one thing he would change about his first term is his famous declaration that the role of the Legislature is to "implement my vision."
"I would like to retract that as rapidly as I could," he said of the remark that added to his sometimes strained relationship with legislators. "Do a flip-flop on my statement. Just take it away."
Davis enjoyed strong approval in public opinion polls during his first two years, more than 60 percent. But after the energy crisis erupted, his rating fell to 40 percent last year and hasn't rebounded.
Critics said he failed to act as wholesale power rates soared and utilities trapped by deregulation pleaded for help. Then the state began buying power for utility customers, signed overpriced contracts and was hit by blackouts.
"The only action that was ever suggested of me at the beginning of the energy crisis was raise rates 400 percent," Davis said. "I would not do that, and I am glad I did not."
Davis announced Wednesday that the state budget gap, estimated at $21 billion last month, has soared to $34.8 billion – a shortfall over the next 18 months that is the equivalent of 45 percent of the current general fund.
By the calculation of his own staff, more than one-third of the gap is the result of one-time revenue in the current budget that will not be available in the new fiscal year beginning July 1, leaving a hole to be filled.
The largest of the one-time revenue sources is a $4.5 billion bond that will be paid off over several decades by California's share of a national settlement with tobacco firms.
Davis said the reliance on one-time revenue to avoid deep cuts during the current fiscal year made sense when experts were forecasting the economy would recover soon, producing more tax revenue. Now they say recovery will be delayed until 2004.
"We are in this mess because of a national recession, which has greatly depleted the income of 46 states," he said.
The governor said Republican legislators who criticize him for overspending were "delighted to support my first two budgets, which were the ones that basically expanded programs."
Davis said spending during his first term increased 32 percent – less than the increase in each of the two terms of governors Ronald Reagan, Pat Brown and Jerry Brown and in one of the terms of George Deukmejian and Pete Wilson.
"Spending is not the real culprit," Davis said. "The culprit is a dramatic drop-off in revenues and increased activity required by the events of 9-11 ."
Davis rejected a suggestion that he was shocked by a narrow re-election margin, a victory by 5 percentage points last month over Republican Bill Simon after winning by 20 percent points in a landslide four years ago.
Of five Democratic governors running for re-election last month, Davis said, three lost and only he and the governor in Iowa withstood a national Republican tidal wave.
"If there is one lesson I have on statewide elections," he said, "these elections are more about what is going on in the voters' life than the candidates."
Davis began the interview by listing some of the accomplishments of his first term. In his top priority of education, he talked of improved test scores, increased teacher training and more access to college through financial aid.
He said the state is spending record amounts on infrastructure – parks, water and transportation. He said public safety has been improved with 3,000 more police officers, high-tech training and anti-drug enforcement.
The governor said he may be most proud of restoring California to its role as a national leader with new policies on stem-cell research, providing paid family leave and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.
After he is sworn in Jan. 6, Davis said he will propose a modest increase in child health care, a privacy law for financial and health information, and tax reform to smooth out feast-or-famine revenue cycles.
The governor said he will propose painful spending cuts and probably tax increases to close the huge gap in the state budget and get the state through the first part of his new term.
But by the end of the next four years, he said, the state should be in an economic upswing and "be able to return to investing in areas that I think continue to be critical."
Thanks for this image, John.
calgov2002:
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What words?
You now know one of the reasons we call it the San Diego Union Buffoon.
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