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George Skelton: A reality check for California’s excessive borrowing

Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2009 at 4:07 pm

From George Skelton’s Capitol Journal at the Los Angeles Times:

“State Treasurer Bill Lockyer is playing Scrooge, admonishing Capitol politicians that they can’t have everything they want — or even think they need.

It’s a sound message not just for the politicians, but also for the California public.

The state’s credit card is about maxed out, the veteran Democratic office-holder warns. Payments on bond borrowing are becoming uncomfortably high, crowding out funds for universities, healthcare, parks — and all the other government services being slashed these days.

Or, as Assembly budget chairwoman Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) told a committee hearing Monday, bond payments are “the Pac-Man eating up the general fund” — the state’s main checking account that again is running a deficit. The latest projection is a $21-billion hole for the next 18 months.

Lockyer’s lecture has broad implications for rebuilding California’s crumbling infrastructure. … “

Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

December 19, 2009 · Filed Under Legislation - State & Federal

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