Features

Gov. to cut $750 million from budget

By Jennifer Coleman The Associated Press
Wednesday September 04, 2002

By Jennifer Coleman 

The Associated Press 

 

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis said Tuesday he would cut more than the $750 million he’s supposed to cut from a $99 billion budget that many are calling a stopgap measure. 

At a campaign stop in Los Angeles, Davis said he would “veto some additional money” from the budget approved by the Legislature Sunday after a two-month standoff over proposed tax increases. 

Davis declined to specify how much he would cut and where the cuts would come from, saying he would work with his budget advisers Tuesday afternoon. 

“We will reduce the budget by a significant amount, we have a $24 billion shortfall that we are closing and we also have to think about the problems next year and the year after,” Davis said. 

Senate President John Burton, the Senate’s top Democrat, joined a chorus of critics, mostly Republican, of what they call a dangerous lack of permanent cuts to help stabilize the state’s budget in future years. 

Burton, of San Francisco, said Tuesday the long-overdue budget passed this weekend was only a “get-out-alive deal” and will result in a more difficult budget battle next year. 

But Davis, who plans to sign the budget Thursday, defended the budget, saying the spending plan was “the best we could do under extremely difficult circumstances.” 

Lawmakers approved the budget early Sunday morning, after they had battled over $9 billion in cuts. It calls for Davis to make $750 million in cuts from state agencies and departments rather than programs. 

Under the plan, another $285 million could be saved by offering longtime state employees an incentive to retire early. About $2.4 billion will be raised through new revenue, but not through vehicle or tobacco taxes, as previously proposed. 

“The average family is not going to see their taxes increase, either through the vehicle license fee or if they happen to smoke, they won’t be paying a whole lot for their cigarettes either,” added Davis spokeswoman Hilary McLean. 

As part of the budget agreement reached in the Assembly, Speaker Herb Wesson will create a committee of lawmakers to study ways to improve the budget process. 

Burton has proposed a commission of “outsiders, non-politicians to deal with this problem,” he said. 

This year’s budget didn’t include a permanent tax hike, such as the proposed tobacco tax increase, or a two-year fee increase, such as the temporary increase in vehicle license fees. Because of that, the future budget will have no new source of money and spending will have been trimmed to the bone to meet this year’s limits, Burton said. 

“The funding for the budget is only going to give us bigger problem next year. The only good news about that is that it may well force us to deal with a structural change in the budget,” Burton said. “Nothing’s going to help next year short of a miracle.”