What would your response be if your salary were to be cut by an astonishing fifty thousand dollars per year? Would you allow this cut to occur if it meant a more stable economy in California? How would you pay your mortgage and feed your children if your wages were cut this drastically? All of these questions are actively discussed in families who work for California. The cause for concern is rooted in a suggestion made by our Governor. The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, has placed an initiative in place, citing court documentation to back his idea, that would effectively reduce the average salary of $65,000 per year to a mere fifteen dollars per hour. Budget cuts are necessary to improve the already dismal fiscal future this state has, but is the governor providing the correct solution by reducing pay and removing invaluable services and programs?
Overall, California has been facing deep cuts in its fiscal agenda since 2008. While the administration has cut under-performing programs and useless pet projects of previous legislature, reducing the budget for public services has far greater impact than cutting programs that are no longer needed. Some of the programs and services in danger of being removed include our foster care system, parole restrictions, and after-school programs. As programs and services are removed from agencies statewide, administrators are faced with ever-changing challenges to remedy the ever-growing fiscal crisis. These decisions, albeit unpopular by many, are the unintended evils of the fiscal crisis we are facing.
Making decisions on which program to cut is not an easy task. These decisions are marred with stress and emotional turmoil and are not made without research. These decisions are backed by quantitative and empirical data to validate the decision to remove an under-performing program from budgetary consideration. While the budgetary reductions have affected the residents of California, they are small compared to the overall magnitude of the situation. The changes that have been made to address the fiscal crisis in California include a infinitesimal one percent increase in sales tax, an increase in the Vehicle License Fee, and nearly one billion dollars in budgetary cuts for public health care.
While there are still areas of opportunity, overall administrators have handled the fiscal crisis the only way they know how. Administrators reacted spontaneously to a preventable epidemic. As Mint states, “this is a learning experience on many levels for our current Administration.” The lesson to be learned from this crisis indicates improvements in fiscal and expense management practices would allow a resolution to our current issue and a course of action to prevent this issue from occurring in the future.
Overall, California has been facing deep cuts in its fiscal agenda since 2008. While the administration has cut under-performing programs and useless pet projects of previous legislature, reducing the budget for public services has far greater impact than cutting programs that are no longer needed. Some of the programs and services in danger of being removed include our foster care system, parole restrictions, and after-school programs. As programs and services are removed from agencies statewide, administrators are faced with ever-changing challenges to remedy the ever-growing fiscal crisis. These decisions, albeit unpopular by many, are the unintended evils of the fiscal crisis we are facing.
Making decisions on which program to cut is not an easy task. These decisions are marred with stress and emotional turmoil and are not made without research. These decisions are backed by quantitative and empirical data to validate the decision to remove an under-performing program from budgetary consideration. While the budgetary reductions have affected the residents of California, they are small compared to the overall magnitude of the situation. The changes that have been made to address the fiscal crisis in California include a infinitesimal one percent increase in sales tax, an increase in the Vehicle License Fee, and nearly one billion dollars in budgetary cuts for public health care.
While there are still areas of opportunity, overall administrators have handled the fiscal crisis the only way they know how. Administrators reacted spontaneously to a preventable epidemic. As Mint states, “this is a learning experience on many levels for our current Administration.” The lesson to be learned from this crisis indicates improvements in fiscal and expense management practices would allow a resolution to our current issue and a course of action to prevent this issue from occurring in the future.
Sources:
Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/03/oldttechnology-foils-schw_n_634892.html
Mint Online - http://www.mint.com/blog/finance-core/understanding-the-california-budget-crisis/
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