Assemblyman Scott Wilk
Growing up, I was taught the importance of saving money, balancing my check book and not spending more than I earned. These same lessons my wife, Vanessa, and I have taught our children so they may also practice sound financial responsibility. Sadly, the state’s new fiscal year has begun, and we aren’t saving money or balancing our books.
In fact, this year’s budget and the so-called “process” surrounding it were far from balanced or democratic. This is disappointing considering that a budget is an outline of the state’s priorities for spending the people’s hard-earned tax dollars, arguably one of the Legislature’s most important duties.
As a freshman legislator, I expected to come to Sacramento to participate in a thorough and thoughtful budget debate about our state’s fiscal priorities. Unfortunately, what really happened was a backroom budget deal controlled by the majority party using the same failed gimmicks of the past.
Taxpayers deserve better. That’s why I co-authored Assembly Bill 70, a piece of legislation requiring a budget bill to be in print for three days before a vote. This would allow lawmakers and the public time to actually read bills. Sadly, this common-sense idea received little support from the majority party.
This year’s state budget was riddled with fees and tax increases, from increasing court fees to fees on employers for increased workers compensation. It’s no wonder why businesses and residents of California are moving out of our state at an increasing rate. Oftentimes, increased taxes on employers and small businesses come directly out of the pocket of consumers and employees. So where is the incentive for a small “Mom and Pop” business to grow their operation and workforce? What California needs to do is add more people to the workforce. With every additional worker that is added to the workforce, the need for higher taxes is reduced.
While I disagree with how the budget was written, there was one bright spot. Governor Brown used the more conservative budget projections from the Department of Finance rather than the projections from the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). This means the state will be spending $3 billion less than the Democrat legislative majority wanted to.
Disappointing was the lack of commitment to higher education. I had co-authored AB 67 which would have frozen CSU tuition for four years, the length of the tax increases imposed by Proposition 30 which was passed in November of 2012. When the majority party would not support such common sense proposal, we then made amendments they requested in an effort to pass bi-partisan legislation. However, at the end of the day they simply killed it in committee.
Thanks to some good media spin, the press has mischaracterized the budget, using words like “balanced” and even “surplus.” Yet those descriptions fall short considering that the on-going programs were funded with temporary tax increases and internal borrowing. Yeah that’s right; this budget uses temporary money to fund permanent programs. In addition, the budget did little to address the state’s other looming long-term obligations or establish a rainy day fund.
According to Moody’s Credit Rating, California’s unfunded pension liabilities for state and local government agencies are as high as $329 billion. Moody’s has also placed 30 California cities on the watch list for a possible credit downgrade, while our state has the second lowest credit rating in the nation behind Illinois.
In the end, budgets are about priorities. Just like families do day after day, it’s time for the majority party to balance a budget and reign in spending. I will continue to fight for what taxpayers expect the government to do, like keeping our communities safe, paying down the state’s credit cards, and investing in a quality education for our students. California needs to get back to its priorities.
In contrast, the majority party’s budget priorities are growing government, ignoring debt, and spending money the state simply does not have. It is action like this that continues to push our state in the wrong direction.
What Californians deserve is a real and honest budget debate, one that promotes common-sense and accountability to solve the state’s most pressing obstacles.
Assemblyman Scott Wilk represents the 38th Assembly District, which encompasses Simi Valley, the northwestern section of the San Fernando Valley and most of the Santa Clarita Valley.
Priorities - Remember Those? | Commentary by Assemblyman Scott Wilk
