| 1/17/2008
Dutton Report: January 2008
DUTTON REPORT Quote of the Month “The problem is not that people are taxed too little; the problem is that government spends too much.”
-- President Ronald Reagan. Back to the top
Year of the Budget For the past several months I’ve been very vocal about the state’s fiscal situation being worse than projected. The governor confirmed my beliefs when he announced during his State of the State speech earlier this month that the budget deficit for 2008-09 would be $14.5 billion if left unchecked. Because I saw the state’s financial picture worsening by the day, with the deficit growing from $6.1 billion to $10 billion and now to $14.5 billion, I’ve been calling on the governor for more than two months to declare a “fiscal emergency”. Under Proposition 58, passed by the voters in 2004, he has the power to do that, which would then allow us to now begin making the necessary adjustments to bring our spending in line with revenues. The governor announced during his State of the State speech that a “fiscal emergency” does exist and on Jan. 14th the State Senate did go into Special Session to begin dealing with the state’s fiscal emergency. Under the provisions of Proposition 58 we now have 45 days to make the necessary adjustments to our spending. If we don’t make those adjustments within this time frame no other legislation can be passed until we bring our fiscal house in order. I’ve been in the Legislature for more than five years now and can tell you that often times in the past these special sessions have netted nothing but some media publicity on the issue – whether it is the budget, water or health care. But I can tell you there is a real sense of urgency in this special session and believe that there will be some tangible results in the next month and a half. You will probably be hearing over the next several weeks that the only way to fix this budget and the 2008-09 spending plan that begins July 1st is to raise taxes. Let me say again, and I’ll point out the governor said the same thing during his State of the State speech, California doesn’t have a revenue problem it has a spending problem. During the last five years, for example, revenues to the state have grown by nearly $27 billion dollars. Yet we are faced with a $14.5 billion deficit for the 2008-09 fiscal year. I believe it’s time to enact a spending cap that will ensure spending stays in line with revenues. The governor talked about a plan and it is very intriguing. The state of California would look at revenues over the last 10 years and take the average increase of those revenues to determine how much spending could increase in the next fiscal year. Any revenues over that amount would then go into a reserve for the years when revenues don’t meet expectations. Whether this plan is the answer or not will be determined over the coming weeks, but one thing is for certain, the State of California has to change how it spends your tax dollars and increasing taxes doesn’t solve the problem. Dave Hunt owner of an auto body shop summed up California’s spending problems. "I just think throwing more money at the problem isn't the solution," Hunt said. "Here at the body shop, I can't just start arbitrarily raising prices because I'm not spending my money correctly. Whether it's from the rich, the poor, or middle class, it's not fair." Hunt said a lot of fat can be trimmed from state bureaucracy. Money should be more efficiently used to provide basic needs for residents, such as maintaining roads, he said. "If the state ran it like a company, then it would be run a lot different," said the Tennessee native. "Do I think they should take money from kids and old people? No, but I think there's a lot of waste, like three or four people doing the same job." Dave Hunt is right and now is the time for California to finally bring its spending under control. Over the next several weeks I’ll be writing several pieces about California’s spending problems for daily and weekly newspapers in my District. Once they are published I’ll be sending them to you also so you can have a clearer picture of what the problems are and how they can be solved. Back to the top Funding Illegal Aliens As the Legislature debates the budget over the next several weeks and months, consider this – according to a study done by the Federation for American Immigration Reform more than $10 billion a year of your tax dollars are spent supporting illegal aliens. That includes providing health care, education and welfare benefits to these individuals. Dee and Mark Elliot who live in Southern California recently sent me a newspaper article that pointed out the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services disclosed that illegal aliens in Los Angeles County collected more than $37 million dollars in welfare and food stamp allocations during the month of November. This represents a $3 million dollar increase since September. Los Angeles County projected the cost of supplying these illegal aliens with welfare assistance and food stamp allocations for 2007 will total $444 million dollars. So as we look at what services should be cut, we can start by making sure that only those who are in this country legally are receiving services funded by your tax dollars. If we did that a big part of our spending problem would be solved! Back to the top Universal Health Care Isn't the Answer Many who support universal health care tout Canada’s plan as the model of how the program works. But those who live in Canada or know someone who is part of the Canadian plan know that a government run health care program is not the answer. Consider a story I read recently about a Canadian woman who had her appendix burst while she was in California but wasn’t able to go back home because there weren’t enough available hospital beds. According to the story Canadian resident Arlene Meeks has been in a California hospital since December 17th. Her family tried to get her transferred back to Canada for two weeks but they haven't had any luck. Stephen Harris with the South Fraser Health Region in Canada says the issue is a shortage of ventilated intensive care unit beds, which are highly specialized. He says over the holidays, it's not surprising to see those beds fill up. Harris says as soon as a bed becomes available, Meeks will be transferred to a local hospital. Arlene's daughter Kim says her mom is 'frustrated as hell', and she just wants to come home. NDP Health Critic Adrian Dix says the issue is one that's continued to plague the Lower Mainland and he's blaming Liberal government cuts to acute care beds. "The number of acute care beds in British Columbia was reduced by 1,300 in the first mandate of the government, and some of the new facilities being opened won't be adding to that number." I’ve said several times that the government running a complicated health care program isn’t the answer. The answer is to find ways of expanding our current health care system to make it affordable and accessible to as many legal residents as possible. If California can’t effectively run the lottery, which state officials have admitted, I don’t see how in the world they could effectively run health care. Back to the top Great Website I’m fortunate enough this year to have an outstanding Senate Fellow, Alex Vassar, as part of my Capitol Office staff. The San Jose State graduate has put together an outstanding website for any of you interested in the history of California elections from 1849 to the present. Alex is the editor of www.joinCalifornia.com that not only includes election results from 1849 but also includes biographies of more than 13,000 candidates. The website can serve as a valuable tool for students conducting research on the history of California politics or those who just want to learn more about the politics of this state. Back to the top Around the District On December 8 I enjoyed attending the Chaffey Republican Women’s annual Holly Berry Christmas gathering with my wife Andrea. It is a pleasure to spend time with these wonderful women, and Andrea had the honor of administering the oath of office to their new officers. We had an open house at my district office on December 12 as part of a progressive event with Supervisor Paul Biane’s office and Assemblyman Bill Emmerson’s office. I sincerely enjoyed the time I was able to spend with so many constituents. I also want to thank everyone for their generous contributions to the “Toys for the Troops Kids” program. We were able to deliver more than 250 new toys to the children of our men and women who are deployed over seas. On December 14 I joined other local officials for the 60/91/215 “Flyover” event. As most of you are aware this massive freeway interchange project will provide much needed relief from some of the worst traffic congestion in the Inland Empire. The scale of this project is amazing – one of the crossover ramps is over a mile long! We are all anxious to see the final completion of this project. During this time in the district, I was able to meet with the city councils of Highland, Redlands, San Bernardino and Yucca Valley. I sincerely appreciate the time I am able to spend with these local leaders. It allows me to share information from Sacramento, and even more importantly it allows them to provide me with their local concerns, ideas and suggestions. I feel truly honored to be the representative of so many wonderful cities who are working hard to make this area the best it can be. On December 18 I accepted the invitation to address the Inland Action group in San Bernardino. This organization serves as an informational source and advocates on behalf of the various private and public sector economic interests in the Inland Empire. I was able to update the many local business and community leaders on current happenings in Sacramento, particularly regarding the budget situation.
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