California's fiscal crisis demands a bold rethink: oversight over existing laws. Jon Coupal explores this urgent need in his latest article.

At your request: This week's California Commentary by Jon Coupal
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** California Commentary
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** A bold idea for California: Instead of passing so many new laws, how about some oversight over existing ones?
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By Jon Coupal

The reaction from politicians to California’s budget deficit – now estimated by the Legislative Analyst to be around $73 billion – breaks down into two camps: the state must either reduce spending or find more revenue. (Euphemism for raising taxes.)

In reality, even the most progressive legislators realize that their dream of unending growth in government is crashing headlong into reality. Days ago, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas acknowledged that the ultimate goal of single-payer health care won’t be on the table anytime soon.

Of course, any reduction in spending will be accompanied by the obligatory gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. It is easier to extract a sirloin steak from the jaws of a Doberman than to get politicians and government bureaucrats to reduce their record levels of spending. To the tax spenders, all government spending is “essential,” notwithstanding the fact that state spending has doubled in six years.

Ordinary Californians reject the premise that all state spending is “essential” and, in fact, think much of it is superfluous and wasteful. A Public Policy Institute of California survey earlier this month asked, “Do you think . . . state government[s] waste a lot of the money we pay in taxes, waste some of it, or don’t waste very much of it?” Overall, 45% of Californians perceived that “a lot” of their money was being wasted and 46% believed “some” of their money was wasted.

Specific examples abound. If the High-Speed Rail project were put before the voters after its 14-year history of broken promises, polling reveals it would be derailed. And volumes could be written about the $30 billion in EDD fraud.

An excellent exposé in CalMatters by Sameea Kamal and Jeremia Kimelman reveals the massive non-compliance with legislative mandates regarding the preparation of reports that are supposed to track the effectiveness of government programs. The title of the article is “Legislators wanted 1,100 reports on how California’s laws are working. Most haven’t arrived.”

When it creates a new program, the Legislature frequently requires the affected state or local agencies to prepare a report back to the Legislature about the performance of the new program. The purpose, according to the Legislature itself, is to “provide crucial oversight to ensure effective implementation of programs.”

To read the entire column, please click here ([link removed]) .

Click here to listen to this week's Howard Jarvis Podcast, "Budget Iceberg: Dead Ahead!" ([link removed]) The Howard Jarvis Podcast features HJTA President Jon Coupal and VP of Communications Susan Shelley with a lively conversation that takes you inside California government in a way that's fun, interesting and sometimes scary. Check out all the recent podcasts by clicking here: [link removed]
A note to our valued members and supporters: To increase the reach of our message to as many Californians as possible, HJTA made an agreement with the Southern California News Group papers to carry Jon Coupal's weekly column. The newspapers in the group, including the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News, have added a paywall that allows only a limited number of page views per month, and then asks readers to become subscribers. HJTA is not marketing these subscriptions or receiving any payment from them. The columns are exclusive to SCNG's papers for one week and then are posted in full on HJTA's own website, www.hjta.org ([link removed]) , under "California Commentaries," where you can read them at your convenience, or read Jon's column online in all the SCNG papers at these links:
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Jon Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). He is a recognized expert in California fiscal affairs and has argued numerous tax cases before the courts.
HJTA always appreciates the support of its members, if it doesn't pose a hardship. Your donations help us fight to protect Proposition 13 and all California taxpayers.
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