The state of California has once again failed Accounting 101.
The state's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 and inevitably our board of directors, a.k.a. legislators, do not ever seem to pass a budget on time. In fact, in the past 20 years they have only passed the budget by June 30 a whopping four times.
This year, there is no end in sight for the standoff between the legislators.
The budget is a long, drawn out process. The governor provides the legislature with a preliminary budget in January.
The legislature overviews the budget, as does the legislative analysis office, or LAO. Both the legislature and LAO point out flaws in the budget.
The LAO is a nonpartisan office that looks at legislation from a fiscal and policy point of view. In the middle of May, the governor sends back revisions on the budget to the legislature. The legislature then has about 45 days to come up with a budget that 66 percent of both the Senate and Assembly can agree upon.
Here are some of the expectations for a possible budget. There will be a temporary increase in sales tax, some kind of spending cap like that recommended by the LAO and local governments will take a hit by the state borrowing funds under Proposition 1A, which allows local property taxes to be borrowed and requires repayment within two years.
Many of these actions require an item on the November ballot. Aug. 16 was the drop dead date that Secretary of State Debra Bowen told legislators that ballot measures need to be passed. The time is needed in order to print ballots and a supplemental pamphlet to get to the voters.
However, if the past indicates anything, don't hold your breath on a budget getting passed anytime soon. With an open and hotly contested presidential election, and a ton of initiatives on the ballot, there probably won't be a compromise in the near future.
But the odds on bet are that we will have a budget before the holidays.
The state's fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30 and inevitably our board of directors, a.k.a. legislators, do not ever seem to pass a budget on time. In fact, in the past 20 years they have only passed the budget by June 30 a whopping four times.
This year, there is no end in sight for the standoff between the legislators.
The budget is a long, drawn out process. The governor provides the legislature with a preliminary budget in January.
The legislature overviews the budget, as does the legislative analysis office, or LAO. Both the legislature and LAO point out flaws in the budget.
The LAO is a nonpartisan office that looks at legislation from a fiscal and policy point of view. In the middle of May, the governor sends back revisions on the budget to the legislature. The legislature then has about 45 days to come up with a budget that 66 percent of both the Senate and Assembly can agree upon.
Here are some of the expectations for a possible budget. There will be a temporary increase in sales tax, some kind of spending cap like that recommended by the LAO and local governments will take a hit by the state borrowing funds under Proposition 1A, which allows local property taxes to be borrowed and requires repayment within two years.
Many of these actions require an item on the November ballot. Aug. 16 was the drop dead date that Secretary of State Debra Bowen told legislators that ballot measures need to be passed. The time is needed in order to print ballots and a supplemental pamphlet to get to the voters.
However, if the past indicates anything, don't hold your breath on a budget getting passed anytime soon. With an open and hotly contested presidential election, and a ton of initiatives on the ballot, there probably won't be a compromise in the near future.
But the odds on bet are that we will have a budget before the holidays.