The budget deadline was met, but...

Assemblymember Marie Waldron

AD-75 (R)

On June 15, the Legislature met its constitutional obligations and passed a general fund budget for the upcoming 2015-2016 fiscal year. That budget proposal was $749 million more than Governor Brown had proposed, and bore little chance of passage. Negotiations began quickly, and on June 16 legislative leaders and the Governor reached agreement on a $115.4 billion budget, largely in accord with Governor Brown’s wishes.

Though the new budget has several plusses, including long delayed funding increases for the CSU and UC systems, spending priorities remain skewed. First of all, at a time of increasing Medi-Cal enrollments resulting from implementation of Obamacare, the budget creates new health care entitlements for undocumented immigrant children that will cost millions, while leaving reduced Medi-Cal reimbursement rates in place. These reductions have made it increasingly difficult for Medi-Cal enrollees to get the treatment they need, especially now that enrollments are skyrocketing. This problem should be fixed first, before expensive new entitlements are created.

Another pressing need, a costly upgrade for our state’s crumbling highway system, remains unaddressed, despite higher state revenues and the problem’s "high priority" status. Significant funding for new highway projects was not included in the budget.

Special sessions to deal with the Medi-Cal and transportation issues, which are almost certain to include calls for massive tax hikes, will be called at a later date.

In short, the new budget’s spending priorities are seriously out-of-whack. Misplaced priorities will create new social and welfare programs that cost billions, allowing longstanding problems to fester.