Office of Senator Dahle,
It was an exciting week back at work in the Capitol‚ with four different Senate committees meeting to consider “two-year bills” – legislation that did not pass last year but whose authors are continuing to work to pass them. The Senate Appropriations Committee will take up several dozen of these bills next week‚ as they have a brief window in January to pass out of the Senate to be considered this year or be dead for the session.
Meanwhile‚ the Legislature is digesting the governor’s proposed budget for the coming year‚ which was released late last week. There are positives and negatives in specific spending proposals – but the most important thing to know is that the governor’s approach would saddle the state with chronic‚ multibillion-dollar deficits in the years to come‚ after he leaves office.
No forecast of the future economy will ever be perfect‚ but the Legislative Analyst’s Office‚ in its review of the budget‚ points out the state has still not adjusted its budget to fit its means since the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tax revenue has been rising‚ but spending has been rising even more. One-time fixes have not addressed the chronic over-spending‚ and when an economic downturn comes – which is inevitable sooner or later – it will hit the state that much harder.
California already taxes its residents heavily‚ and more taxes are not the solution. The state needs to get serious about what it can afford. When a crisis hits‚ it will be too late.
– Senator Megan Dahle
