The California Budget has been unbalanced for almost half of the time it is enacted to provide funding for.  As we bring the 2008 year to a close we also bring to a close the first half of the 2008-2009 fiscal year.  Though budget negotiations between Governor Schwarzenegger and the Democratic Leadership team of Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg appear to be reaching the finish line, the inevitable legal challenge by taxpayer advocacy groups and the California Republican Party will delay the budget further.

There hasn’t been much optimism toward the idea of a legislative compromise to fix the budget.  Although the Governor seemed to think the problem could be fixed during the end of the last session in November, California sits in waiting days after Christmas for a solution to the budget problem.  Stalemate on both sides of the budget– the Republicans refusing to raise taxes, fees, etc and the Democrats refusing to cut the fat on government bureaucracy spending.

After a recent Big 5 meeting with the Governor, Dave Cogdill said negotiations are effectively dead and that Democrats couldn’t or would meet the Republican demands on the budget.  Since the Democratic leadership doesn’t seem to be able to convince the Republicans (other than Arnold) to raise taxes, they decided that the rules were wrong, and decide to attempt to approve a budget without following the 2/3 budget supermajority rule.  This will definitely be challenged in court if passed, leaving the actual fruits of the current labors in question.

As we approach the January 10, 2009 release of the Governor’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2009-2010, it becomes more and more clear that we will not have yet put our current year’s budget into the black.  This probably make the job of the Governor’s office harder this time around, not really knowing our tax revenue projections (because we don’t know our tax rates) or how much debt we will actually need to make up.  On the bright side, Darrell Steinberg has said that the Senate will not wait for the May Revision to begin proposing a budget vote next year.  If we start our budget planning in January rather than May, we get 5 more months to talk budget– and hopefully pass a budget on time.

The California budget situation is a mess.  With both sides refusing to give an inch and not flinching it seems that a legal decision might be the arbitration that finally brings closure to the disfunctional family.  Maybe not the closure we want or need, but the one we deserve.