He says the spending plan does not do enough to pay down debts or invest in road and water infrastructure.
Advertisement
His proposal also includes a $1.1 billion compromise on a new tax on health insurers to ensure continued federal funding for Medi-Cal, which Republicans said was unnecessary thanks to the burgeoning tax revenues. Brown said the tax is critical to maintaining the state health care program for the poor, which is projected to cover 13.5 million people by 2017, almost a third of the state’s population.
Sacramento While pushing for quicker improvement in graduation rates, Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a budget for the California State University that includes more money for the 23-campus system and keeps tuition at the same level it’s been at for the past five years.
The governor’s plan reflects the increase of the state’s minimum wage to $10 per hour, effective January 1.
Copies of Gov. Jerry Browns budget summary rest on a table as he unveils his proposed 2016-17 state budget at a news conference yesterday in Sacramento.
“We are pleased that the governor underscored his commitment to long-term budget stability and protecting the state’s solvency”. At the time, California faced a $9 billion budget shortfall, one in a run of deficits that exceeded $100 billion combined since 2007.
Jerry Brown unveiled his new $122.6-billion budget proposal today, the first part of a complicated process that should lead to its passage sometime over the summer.
While local legislators are pleased to see education and transportation priorities in the Governor’s budget proposal, they think increased spending is not the answer to some of the State’s biggest problems. She said the concerns of the insurance industry were addressed in creating the revised plan, which would result in an overall $90 million tax savings for the companies. California’s taxpayers are already overburdened; additional taxes are not an acceptable solution.
According to “KXJZ News”, the California Legislature will hold budget hearings in coming months to develop its own spending proposal (“KXJZ News”, Capital Public Radio, 1/7).
Remarkably, people are complaining that Brown is not spending even more money. “But too many goods too quickly becomes bad”, Brown said, adding that in times of economic recession, “you’ll find jobs have got to be cut, particularly in lower-income areas… like the Central Valley”. Supporters were disappointed the governor once again opted not to raise reimbursement for providers in the program, which were cut by 10 percent during the recession, leading to a shortage of doctors in the program.
Numerous budget increases attempt to restore funding to programs that have been cut annually since the start of the 2008 recession. “The growth per student is about $3,600 since I was elected governor”, he said. “The funds that go to these programs ensure that people can live independent lives and should be included in this budget and every one thereafter”. “We need to make sure these extra revenues keep flowing so schools can continue their momentum”.
Meanwhile, the California Dental Association called on the state to increase support for Medi-Cal’s “chronically underfunded and underperforming dental program, Denti-Cal”. However, they criticized proposed fee and tax increases to address growing road maintenance demands. And it leaves lawmakers in both parties wanting more.
He said his administration has been deep in talks with health insurers to come up with a fair proposal to plug the $1.1 billion health care hole.
Advertisement
Republicans are happy that the governor is being frugal but aren’t happy about new taxes. “The governor’s budget proposal, and his state of the state message, represents the right moment for the governor to acknowledge that without a Prop 30 extension, the progress we have made over the past few years will be in jeopardy”.
