Thanks, California, but I've already got a job
Enough Said
Roda Marie Catapang
Issue date: 5/19/09 Section: Opinion
To make that clearer, voters are being asked to decide on whether or not they want to help out our schools and our children in California enough to also pass 1A's "rainy day" fund increase that would raise taxes for an additional one to two years and create a spending cap.
I ask myself what this will all mean. I'm still pretty confused about what these initiatives will really do with our state budget, but a nagging voice I like to call common sense keeps chiming in that I'm just confused because the whole thing doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
What I've gotten out of it so far is that Californians are being asked to determine whether or not schools deserve to get repaid the billions of dollars taken from them in the first place.
If these initiatives do pass, we can expect to see no money until the "rainy day" fund mark is met.
If the initiatives don't pass, the governor has said that it could result in an $80 million cut for Cal Fire.
Call me crazy, but I happen to believe that things like public safety (and its maintenance) should be a top priority for funding, no matter what the budget is.
And especially during a drastic downturn as we're experiencing now, with the state's increasing crime.
Lastly (although I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll be asked to do their job), Californians will have to make the decision to cut spending on state programs and to increase sales and income tax for the next couple years if they decide to go along with the budget Propositions 1A through 1F will create.
Our leaders in Sacramento don't appear to be willing to do what they were hired to do.
We elected these guys to govern for us and instead they ignore our past decisions and continue to ask us what to do about the same problem. And then they have us make the tough decisions for them.
I ask myself what this will all mean. I'm still pretty confused about what these initiatives will really do with our state budget, but a nagging voice I like to call common sense keeps chiming in that I'm just confused because the whole thing doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
What I've gotten out of it so far is that Californians are being asked to determine whether or not schools deserve to get repaid the billions of dollars taken from them in the first place.
If these initiatives do pass, we can expect to see no money until the "rainy day" fund mark is met.
If the initiatives don't pass, the governor has said that it could result in an $80 million cut for Cal Fire.
Call me crazy, but I happen to believe that things like public safety (and its maintenance) should be a top priority for funding, no matter what the budget is.
And especially during a drastic downturn as we're experiencing now, with the state's increasing crime.
Lastly (although I'm sure this isn't the last time we'll be asked to do their job), Californians will have to make the decision to cut spending on state programs and to increase sales and income tax for the next couple years if they decide to go along with the budget Propositions 1A through 1F will create.
Our leaders in Sacramento don't appear to be willing to do what they were hired to do.
We elected these guys to govern for us and instead they ignore our past decisions and continue to ask us what to do about the same problem. And then they have us make the tough decisions for them.
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