Thanks, California, but I've already got a job
Enough Said
Roda Marie Catapang
Issue date: 5/19/09 Section: Opinion
So, the state government is asking us to vote in a special election on May 19. They're putting six initiatives in the hands of California voters.
Five initiatives directly address the budget. One initiative is contingent upon another.
If you ask me, it all totals up to just another way the government has failed to do their job.
First, they couldn't get the budget done on time. Now they're asking Californians to finish the job for them, and let me try to explain how. It's all really confusing.
California is dealing with a huge budget crisis (does it even need to be said) and rather than make the hard decisions that the state government needs to make to get things moving along, they have passed the buck over to the California voters.
On May 19, voters will decide whether or not California schools and community colleges will get the $9.3 billion dollars Proposition 1B promises them. $9.3 billion that many already believe is owed to the schools and should be paid, whether or not 1B passes.
Proposition 98 (in a nutshell) set the minimum limited funding available for schools and community colleges. It was an initiative voted and passed by Californians in 1988.
So (by law) the schools get a guaranteed minimum budget fund, which was stripped of approximately $12 billion in the last two years, according to the California Federation of Teachers.
If voters decide to shuck it and play along with the government by giving in to this "easy" fix to the school funding dilemma by voting to pass 1B, voters will also have to pass Proposition 1A.
Known as the "rainy day" fund increase and spending cap initiative, 1A will raise the current "rainy day" fund (yes, there's a current "rainy day" fund already in existence and no, I don't know where it all went) from five percent to 12.5 percent.
What does that mean? Basically, the state can't spend any money until the fund, taken from the general revenue, reaches the 12.5 percent mark.
Five initiatives directly address the budget. One initiative is contingent upon another.
If you ask me, it all totals up to just another way the government has failed to do their job.
First, they couldn't get the budget done on time. Now they're asking Californians to finish the job for them, and let me try to explain how. It's all really confusing.
California is dealing with a huge budget crisis (does it even need to be said) and rather than make the hard decisions that the state government needs to make to get things moving along, they have passed the buck over to the California voters.
On May 19, voters will decide whether or not California schools and community colleges will get the $9.3 billion dollars Proposition 1B promises them. $9.3 billion that many already believe is owed to the schools and should be paid, whether or not 1B passes.
Proposition 98 (in a nutshell) set the minimum limited funding available for schools and community colleges. It was an initiative voted and passed by Californians in 1988.
So (by law) the schools get a guaranteed minimum budget fund, which was stripped of approximately $12 billion in the last two years, according to the California Federation of Teachers.
If voters decide to shuck it and play along with the government by giving in to this "easy" fix to the school funding dilemma by voting to pass 1B, voters will also have to pass Proposition 1A.
Known as the "rainy day" fund increase and spending cap initiative, 1A will raise the current "rainy day" fund (yes, there's a current "rainy day" fund already in existence and no, I don't know where it all went) from five percent to 12.5 percent.
What does that mean? Basically, the state can't spend any money until the fund, taken from the general revenue, reaches the 12.5 percent mark.
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