State budgets walloped again
By: Jackie, August 14th, 2009
CNN posted the article State budgets walloped again
An Arizona official joked that the state’s financial plight is comparable to the Grand Canyon, while an Illinois legislator said his state’s budget situation is so scary, it’s best told around a campfire at night.
It`s incredible that law makers in a time of economic downturn find humor. Although a laugh is definitely needed, massive cuts to education, social services, and corrections are at the ends of these laughs. The communities of Black and Latino folks are suffering deeply from these cuts. It is an out right environmental injustice that these cuts are disproportionately made on the backs of working class folks who are predominately Black and Latino. Spending of $15.5 billion, borrowing $2 million from local governments, and shifting money from other funds and other accounting gimmicks are the ways law makers are trying to close the budget gap. The 2009 fiscal year closes with a 142.6 billion deficit. As a result, Californians are suffering, particularly state government workers and working class folks. State government workers are being required to take as many as four unpaid days off per month, no pay raise, and benefits cuts. Working folks are experiencing job loss by the thousands. California`s average unemployment rates has surpass the national average.
I begin to question Californians true power of decisions that directly affect people of color, starting with California’s voter initiative process. It takes only a few thousand signatures for an initiative to be on the ballot for Californians to vote and 2/3 passing for it to be law. If Californian voters continue to make bonehead decisions, many of the state’s resources will be depleted to satisfy the anti-socialists.
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