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QUOTESfrom page 4 ...............................................
<br />Sacramento Bee, 5/1103, Daniel Weintraub:
<br />GOP plan is a start, but doesn't balance the
<br />budget. "The Republican plan doesn't balance the
<br />budget. It simply shifts the problem to the following
<br />year. It leaves, by their own accounting, an $11
<br />billion structural gap between spending and rev-
<br />enues in the 2004 -05 fiscal year."
<br />Sacramento Bee, 5/4/03, Daniel Weintraub:
<br />Missing at state level — Creativity, specific
<br />goals. "The problem stems from a culture that is
<br />resistant to change. The public employee unions,
<br />which tend to oppose flexibility, present obstacles.
<br />But the professional and political managers within
<br />state government haven't shown much creativity,
<br />either.
<br />"Are there easy solutions? No. Would making
<br />government more efficient balance the budget by
<br />itself? Unlikely. But it can't hurt."
<br />Sacramento Bee, 5/4103, Dan Walters:
<br />Timely budget important, but rational one is
<br />more vital. "The months of procrastination,
<br />coupled with mounting legal and financial pressures
<br />to get a budget in place, seemingly set the stage
<br />for more panicky decision - making, the sort of vote -
<br />for- anything mentality that marked the energy crisis
<br />and the budget crisis to date. While the new flurry
<br />of budget activity is welcome, therefore, it's just as
<br />important to enact the right kind of budget as it is to
<br />enact a timely budget."
<br />$3.7 billion off deficit "Lawmakers struck a deal
<br />Wednesday to wipe out a $3.7 billion chunk of
<br />California's multibillion - dollar deficit by shaving
<br />spending and borrowing to pay the state's pension
<br />obligations — the most significant breakthrough yet
<br />in budget talks."
<br />San Diego Union Tribune, 5/1/03, Lawmak-
<br />ers announce deal on pension bonds that cut
<br />deficit. "The bipartisan agreement calls for cutting
<br />$1.2 billion from health care, education and local
<br />government, and includes a scheme to borrow the
<br />money needed to pay a $1.9 billion in pension
<br />obligations due this year and next."
<br />The Los Angeles Times, 5/2/03, $3.6 Billion
<br />in Borrowing, Cuts OK'd by Legislators
<br />Pushed by a court ruling and Wall Street, both
<br />houses in Sacramento act to end standoff.
<br />"The newly energized California Legislature ap-
<br />proved a $3.6- billion package of spending cuts and
<br />borrowing Thursday, less than 24 hours after the
<br />agreement was reached, but still stood billions of
<br />dollars shy of a final budget solution."
<br />Sacramento Bee, 5/2/03, Bills meant to cut
<br />deficit go to Davis — The measures will mean
<br />more state borrowing and reduced health
<br />benefits for the needy. "The Legislature on
<br />Thursday sent Gov. Gray Davis a stack of bills to
<br />chip away at the state's budget shortfall by borrow-
<br />ing to pay pension obligations, cutting health
<br />benefits for the poor and dipping into a teachers
<br />retirement fund."
<br />News Stories
<br />The Los Angeles Times, 5/1/03, State Law-
<br />makers Find Way to Pare Budget Gap
<br />Bipartisan agreement to borrow from pension
<br />funds and cut services produces a $3.6- billion
<br />patch. But Davis insists sales tax hike is
<br />needed. "Even as legislators reported progress,
<br />however, Gov. Gray Davis warned that a more
<br />comprehensive effort to close the rest of the state's
<br />$35- billion budget gap cannot work without new
<br />taxes. That plan depends on additional state
<br />borrowing, and investment banking firms will not
<br />lend California more money without a new source of
<br />revenue dedicated to paying off bonds, Davis said."
<br />Sacramento Bee 5/1103, Capitol deal would lop
<br />Oakland Tribune, 5/2/03, State workers
<br />could be facing big pay cuts — 300,000 em-
<br />ployees may earn minimum. "State government's
<br />nearly 300,000 employees may have to work for
<br />minimum wage if lawmakers don't pass a budget by
<br />June 30 or approve emergency salary legislation,
<br />an unanimous California Supreme Court ruled
<br />Thursday."
<br />The Stockton Record, 512/03, Budget
<br />package OK'd as 2 San Jose Republicans
<br />dissent on some bills. "As lawmakers passed a
<br />$3.6 billion budget- reduction package Thursday, a
<br />pair of San Joaquin County -area Republicans
<br />rejected portions of the plan, casting lonely dissent-
<br />ing votes during a rare moment of bipartisan unity
<br />Continued on Page 10
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