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January 12, 2010 - Mac Taylor's press conference in which he discusses the LAO's Overview of the 2010-11 Governor's Budget
January 12, 2010 -
The Governor proposes $19.9 billion of budget solutions in 2009-10 and 2010-11 to address the budget shortfall and create a $1 billion reserve. While it is reasonable to assume the state will secure some new federal funding and flexibility, the chances that the state will receive all of what the Governor seeks from Washington are almost non-existent. The Legislature should assume that federal relief will be billions of dollars less than the Governor wants—necessitating that it make more very difficult decisions affecting both state revenues and spending. Many of this year's budget solutions will require significant time for departments to implement. Therefore, the Legislature and the Governor need to agree to a framework to solve much of the budget problem by the end of March.
(Video of Mac Taylor's press conference)
December 4, 2009 - California’s Budget Situation, presented by Mac Taylor to the California School Boards Association on December 4, 2009.
November 18, 2009 - Five brief webcasts summarizing our 2010-11 Fiscal Outlook publication. Includes: (1) Overview, (2) Methodology, (3) Correction/Prisons, (4) Proposition 98, and (5) Higher Education.
November 18, 2009 - Our forecast of California’s General Fund revenues and expenditures shows that the state must address a General Fund budget problem of $20.7 billion between now and the time the Legislature enacts a 2010–11 state budget plan. The budget problem consists of a $6.3 billion projected deficit for 2009–10 and a $14.4 billion gap between projected revenues and spending in 2010–11. Addressing this large shortfall will require painful choices—on top of the difficult choices the Legislature made earlier this year.
October 22, 2009 - Presented to: Joint Hearing—Select Committees on Improving State Government. Senator DeSaulnier and Assembly Member Feuer, Chairs
October 6, 2009 - After considering both the February and July budget packages (including the Governor’s line–item vetoes), the 2009–10 state spending plan includes total state budget expenditures of $110 billion from the General Fund and special funds. Spending from these funds in 2009–10 will be $20 billion—15 percent—less than it was in 2007–08. In addition, the budget assumes spending from bond funds of nearly $10 billion as the state continues to allocate moneys from the $43 billion bond package approved at the November 2006 election. While state expenditures decline in 2009–10, federal funds spending will increase dramatically. Federal stimulus funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is largely responsible for the increase in spending from federal funds—from $56 billion in 2007–08 to $77 billion in 2008–09 and an estimated $94 billion in 2009–10.
August 12, 2009 - Memo to Assembly Member Juan Arambula, July 30, 2009. This memo discusses California's debt, deferred payments, and other liabilities that will affect the state’s financial health in the future.
July 29, 2009 - On July 24, 2009, the Legislature passed amendments to the 2009-10 Budget Bill, along with implementing legislation. On July 28, 2009, the Governor signed the budget package, while vetoing $489 million in General Fund appropriations. The budget package projects $89.5 billion of revenues and transfers to the General Fund, and authorizes total General Fund spending of $84.6 billion. The plan leaves the General Fund with an estimated reserve of $500 million at the end of the 2009-10 fiscal year. This publication summarizes the actions taken by the Legislature and Governor.
June 22, 2009 - Conference Committee Budget Package
June 11, 2009 - Presented to the Budget Conference Committee, June 4, 2009
May 27, 2009 - Presented to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) 2009 Legislative Conference, May 27, 2009.
May 21, 2009 - Mac Taylor Discusses the 2009-10 May Revision in this six minute video.
May 21, 2009 - The Governor's estimate of a new $21 billion budget problem is reasonable. The May Revision proposals include major spending reductions and serious efforts for long–term state efficiencies and savings. By acting quickly and reducing reliance on some of the Governor’s riskiest proposals--such as financing $5.5 billion of the deficit by issuing revenue anticipation warrants--the Legislature can return the budget to balance, prevent another state cash crunch, and preserve core funding for what it deems to be California’s long–term priorities. To accomplish these goals, the Legislature now needs to cut lower–priority programs substantially or eliminate them. To address significant budget deficits forecast in future years, the Legislature also needs to begin work this year on measures that further improve the efficiency of state services for 2010–11 and beyond. (Note: the Appendix in the HTML version was corrected as of 2:30 p.m. on May 21, 2009.)