California Budget: Republicans Present New List Of Demands

California Republicans presented a new list of demands to Governor Brown two weeks after his self-imposed deadline for settling the budget deficit problem passed. According to the LA Times, Republicans' newest requests are being kept a secret for now, and leaders are keeping silent on whether they would consider voting to allow Californians to vote for tax extensions in a special election.

The Governor has fulfilled his part of the bargain, signing billions of budget cuts into law with the expectation that tax extensions will make up the other half of the $26 billion dollar deficit. Even though Brown has been negotiating with five GOP lawmakers for weeks about the special election, talks have broken down and all of them have withdrawn to defer leadership to Senator Bob Dutton of Rancho Cucamonga. Sen. Dutton was joined by Sen. Bob Huff to request their "package of reforms" today in Governor Brown's office.

Reuters has a list of all the possible scenarios this showdown could end, including "legal maneuvering" and cutting billions more from the budget. The State Column even quotes Jerry Brown considering a November vote, “maybe through some initiatives, whatever.”

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg cuts to the chase: "I'm about ready to pull the plug. This isn't that hard. We know that there are things that we can and should do in the pension area, the regulatory reform area, in the budget restrain area -- God darn it! We've voted on and passed a number of spending restraint measures... Whether it's fear or just sort of the inability to negotiate in a way that narrows differences as opposed to continually expand them -- this is ridiculous."

Comments

[Its-All-Good]

11:20 AM on 03/28/2011

One big reason the polls have swung in favor of no special election and definitely not higher forced taxes was watching local governments across the state hurry to spend redevelopment funds the governor needed to help cali.. many on projects that require huge influx of funds later on down the road.. like doing an intervention on a heroin addict and them wanting to do a whole bunch of H before "rehab".. :)

[ethelouise]

10:59 PM on 03/30/2011

If I remember correctly the last governor Arnold tried unsuccessfully to do the exact same thing that Scot Walker and he cohorts are pulling in Wisconsin in 2005. He lost his 'special election' obviously nobody wanted his 'hidden agenda which you appear to be pushing, I hope they are paying you overtime for this...

[Its-All-Good]

11:04 AM on 03/28/2011

Why would anybody want fiscal responsibility..? when so many home owners are allowed to buy homes they can't afford? Shouldn't it be the same for government?? Double standard here

[ethelouise]

10:49 PM on 03/30/2011

Those homeowners were 'deceived' they were 'steered' to those questionable mortgages, even when they could have afforded a fixed rate mortgage they were told the predatory loans were better.
And there are a lot of republicans who are NOT fiscally responsible Meg Whitman for example paid $178 million for a 'civil service' job that she LOST...

[Schmice]

09:51 PM on 03/27/2011

It is typical of the Republicans to keep moving the goalposts. They are emboldened when the Democrats agree to a compromise only to find out at the end that the Republicans suddenly decide that what they agreed to is "a good starting point". That they won't even allow the citizens to vote on what is in the state's best interests. The Republicans are morally bankrupt and cannot be trusted. They want the government to fail just so that they shift the blame to the Governor and say that he is a failure. Sounds like what the Republicans in Congress are doing to Obama.

We need to raise the issues by way of referendum since the Republicans and their low-information adherents will not allow this crisis to be resolved.

[Kat Posing]

09:44 PM on 03/26/2011

I would really like if someone on this comment page could explain something to me:

WHY ARE THE CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE REPUBLICANS ATTEMPTING TO BLOCK ALLOWING CALIFORNIANS TO VOTE ON IF WE WANT TO EXTEND TAXES?!??!!

I mean, that's what this is all about isn't it? The Peoples right to vote if we want to extend taxes? But the State Republicans are blocking putting the question to a vote. What's wrong? Are they AFRAID WE WILL ALLOW TAXES TO BE EXTENDED IN ORDER TO BALANCE OUR BUDGET? I understand it goes against all republican principles to have taxes, let alone raise them for any possible reason, but is it possible that Californians may have determined that TAX CUTS DON'T BALANCE BUDGETS? Or is it possible the California State Senate Republicans have determined that CALIFORNIA STATE CITIZENS ARE NOT COMPETENT ENOUGH TO DETERMINE WHAT WE WANT?!

I really hope all of you are taking note of this. We have a constitution that says the voters decide this, not the legislature.

So to Senate Republicans: NOW HEAR THIS!!! STOP TRYING TO WRING CONCESSION OUT OF THE GOVERNOR TO GET YOUR WAY AND LET THE VOTERS DECIDE WHAT WE WANT! Because if you don't, we'll start working on WHO we DON'T want in office!

[Its-All-Good]

09:38 AM on 03/27/2011

just give a voluntary donation on the tax form if you can afford it.. not fixing the problem just leads to more tax increases in the future.. can somebody explain why they would want this scenario??

[rangermac]

02:41 PM on 03/27/2011

Stepping up and paying for the services that the state offers IS fixing the problem.

It may not be the fix that you want, but allowing taxpayers in a democracy the freedom to vote for funding and against cuts that bring a crippling level of services out of state government is a legitimate solution.

[Kat Posing]

04:57 PM on 03/27/2011

This is the thing I really can't understand about Republicans. They want to get rid of everything because they don't believe in anything but quarterly profits.

Everything has a costs. It used to be that most of our services were paid for by first, business taxes then individual taxes on a progressive scale. Now, most taxes are payed by individual taxes while GE gets a refund. The richer you are, the less you pay, percentage wise, in taxes. This ISN'T fair. But what is even less fair and what IS a problem, is some guy trying to not even allow me to decide if I'm willing to pay the SAME amount in taxes (not more, but the SAME amount) in order to keep the teacher at my kids school employed, the potholes in the road on my way to work fix, the water I use daily clean or any of the other hundreds of things my tax dollars are used for

[mgland]

01:50 PM on 03/27/2011

Republicans are doing the right thing. Staging an "intervention" is difficult when you're dealing with such an "addiction" problem

[plaidsportcoat]

02:20 PM on 03/27/2011

Republicans are addicted to money

[ethelouise]

10:55 PM on 03/30/2011

If they are so 'right' then why are they 'determined' to create bread lines and bring back child labor.
Next thing you know they'll be searching our purses as we leave work to find out if we're stealing...

[bgofca]

08:06 PM on 03/26/2011

repuglican kocjroaches need to be recalled.

[Scruffyboo2]

07:00 PM on 03/26/2011

Republikaners are sociopathic people ... they're sick to the bone marrow. Their obnoxious behavior renders them unfit to discuss anything with ... it's a total waste of time. The Republikaner Partei is a criminal organization and should be treated as such. We should force their disbanding and throw them all in jail.

[Dahveed1]

06:31 PM on 03/26/2011

IF this story is correct, then the repubs need to stick with their end of the deal. Kind of crappy to agree to do something and then demand more after the other side does what you want.

Of course, this report may be biased here.

[George Hanshaw]

06:09 PM on 03/26/2011

A new survey from the independent Public Policy Institute of California shows that 46% of likely California voters back Brown's call for a five-year extension on some sales, income and vehicle taxes to help balance the state's books. Just two months ago, 53% of voters surveyed by PPIC said they would approve of the taxes.

The public appetite for a special election also seems to be on the wane. Fifty-one percent of respondents said they wanted one; in January, two-thirds said they welcomed an opportunity to vote on Brown's proposal. The governor promised voters during his campaign last year that they could sign off on any tax hikes. The survey suggests that even if Brown manages to hold a special election, selling the taxes to the public will not be easy. Ballot measures with less than 50% support before a campaign begins typically fail.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/support-for-jerry-browns-california-tax-plan-fading-fast-where-do-you-stand.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef014e6015b87b970c

[George Hanshaw]

06:06 PM on 03/26/2011

Let's face it. California was STUPID when they decided to build a government structure based upon soak-the-rich.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704604704576220491592684626.html

Now they are paying the price for that stupidity.

[Dahveed1]

06:35 PM on 03/26/2011

It doesn't appear that everybody is willing to pay any amount to live there. Its a nice place to visit, though.

I ride motorcycles with a guy from Norway. According to him, their taxes there are way out of control.

[2tango]

05:13 PM on 03/26/2011

Let face it. Republicans don't have a political platform to be a party, and the most grotesque are the followers-voters are people whom not even qualify to be a republican. most of these followers had been left behind and out by their own candidates, whom buried them in debts/unemployed, and homeless.
At least democrats [regardless of their Corruption/incompetence and the non-sense libertinism] have a platform for its people and the country.

[webcrawler]

03:59 PM on 03/26/2011

Nothing new here. They will continue this until they strip the unions. That was the deal made at the national GOP convention behind closed doors with the wealthy corporate elite. Obstruct, obstruct and obstruct again until they bully their way into office.

[kwcrow]

01:38 PM on 03/26/2011

This is status quo for the GOP on the national and state level. Obstruct or filibuster at the people's expense for political points. Period. Inflict enough pain and disgust enough voters and you might pick up a few seats in '12. And, of course, blame the teachers, cops and nurses for the problem. Let's not look at the $40BB hole Kenny Boy blew in the boat or the collapse of the Wall Street casino in '08 - pit neighbor against neighbor instead. If we had Meg Whitman and a GOP majority on Sacramento - I guarantee this place would be looking a lot like Wisconsin and the Democrats would be kicked to the curb. Brown kept his end of the bargain & took a chain saw to the budget - and now all he's asking is to let Californians vote on extending EXISTING taxes to make up the other half, and the Republicans won't hear of it. "It's the pensions, it's the pensions!" Please. Stop. Just stop.
California needs a new constitution, or paralysis will be the order of the day regardless of the imperative - because things don't get much bleaker than they are now, and the GOP minority would still rather play chicken. I hope folks are getting a good look at the "change" the Teapublicans are engaged in right now - making indiscriminate suffering the new American Dream.

[mmm611]

01:34 PM on 03/26/2011

You can see in Wisconsin what would happen if the Republicans were in charge. We saw what the Republicans did to our country between 2000 & 2006. It's time for the Republicans to step aside as a 3rd party, and another party needs to take over.

[2tango]

01:28 PM on 03/26/2011

As an Ind.voter I do recognize that both political parties are corrupted and incompetent. But republicans do take the lead as "Anti-evidence" "Anti-common-sense" Anti-Society-Principles"

[webcrawler]

04:00 PM on 03/26/2011

you forgot anti-working class.

[lostnspace]

01:23 PM on 03/26/2011

The Republicans are doing on the state level to Brown what the Republicans are doing to Obama on the national level. My advice to both: you are dealing with a domestic enemy. They do not have the interests of the people of California or the people of the nation in their priorities. They want to defeat and destroy you. They want to do this because you threaten their bottom line and the portfolios of their wealthy donors. They can not be negotiated with and more than Osama bin Laden can be negotiated with. All you can do is politically steam-roll them with brute force. It's all they understand. Got it?

[George Hanshaw]

06:11 PM on 03/26/2011

Hey, if the Dems in California can't govern (and it certainly doesn't appear that they can) with the majority they have there, then it certainly doesn't speak well for their ability to govern anywhere.

So if what you are saying is true, it would seem like you have two options. Run up the white flag and do it the repubs way, or go the third party route.

[Osusuki]

11:36 AM on 03/27/2011

The best option would be to repeal the super majority requirements of Proposition 13. No simple majority party can govern with its hands tied by what sheep did in 1978.

[rangermac]

02:48 PM on 03/27/2011

Spoken like someone who doesn't comprehend what the Supermajority rules defined by prop 13 does to subvert democracy. In a REAL democratic state government, it wouldn't be a problem. In California's state government, a very narrow, irrational minority holds all the cards.