California Deficit Has Soared To $16 Billion, Gov. Jerry Brown Says [SOS:Clooney,Geffen...]

LATimes ^ | May 12, 2012

[Steelfish]

California Deficit Has Soared To $16 Billion, Gov. Jerry Brown Says May 12, 2012

Gov. Jerry Brown announced on Saturday that the state's deficit has ballooned to $16 billion, a huge increase over his $9.2-billion estimate in January.

The bigger deficit is a significant setback for California, which has struggled to turn the page on a devastating budget crisis. Brown, who announced the deficit on YouTube, is expected to outline his full budget proposal on Monday in Sacramento.

"This means we will have to go much further, and make cuts far greater, than I asked for at the beginning of the year," Brown said in the video.

Lawmakers and others were hoping that a rebounding economy would help the state avoid steep cuts to social services. But revenue in April, the most important month of the year for income taxes, fell far short of expectations, leading to a shortfall of at least $3 billion in the current fiscal year.

The state has also spent $2.1 billion more than expected, according to the controller, further worsening California's financial health.

Advocates involved in budget discussions say they expect deeper cuts to social services than Brown originally proposed in January. Union officials are also in negotiations with administration officials about ways to reduce state payroll costs, an issue that wasn't on the table earlier this year.

[Paladin2]

"states like Idaho, Arizona, New Mexico, and Montana that are being filled with Californians."

Thank G*D you didn't mention Wyoming.

[Paladin2]

"Paraphrasing Saint Augustine “Without a system of justice – what is govt but a marauding band of thieves.” "

I'm sure that that great advocate of Just-Us, E. H0lder will get this straightened out.

[DB]

A good number of the people in California didn’t come from California...

The locust came when things were good. They’ve nearly consumed everything so they’ll be moving on to greener fields...

[US_MilitaryRules]

Cool! oZero just took a cool 15 mil out of the state! LOL