Michael writes:
“The most common culprit was the Serrano decision that was supposed to break
the link between local property taxes and school funding, which was intended to
reduce inequalities between school districts. Many people resented having to
pay property taxes to support poor or minority kids.”
Severing that link of taxing and spending in part created another. By that, I
mean the state’s prison system for adults. It costs far more tax dollars to
lock up one adult for a year than to fund annual tuition for her or him at a
state college or university. CA has constructed 22 prisons in the past 25
years. How many new colleges and universities has the state built since 1984?
Seth Sandronsky
Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 08:09:22 -0700
From: Michael Perelman <[email protected]>
Subject: [Pen-l] California Fiscal Bait and Switch
To: [email protected]
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I'm not an expert in fiscal policy. I don't even play one on television. With
that
caveat, I would like to comment on the upcoming California special election.
Prior to the ratification of Proposition 13 in 1978, Gov. Jerry Brown was
building up
a rainy day fund to prepare for fiscal emergencies. Republicans argued that the
state
had no right to hoard "the people's money." A number of other factors are used
to
explain why Californians ratified Proposition 13. The most common culprit was
the
Serrano decision that was supposed to break the link between local property
taxes and
school funding, which was intended to reduce inequalities between school
districts.
Many people resented having to pay property taxes to support poor or minority
kids.
Also, there were some scandals with County tax assessors, but my recollection
was
that the rainy day fund rhetoric was the loudest.
Proposition 13 changed the political landscape of California. Besides limiting
increases in property taxes over and above a fixed formula, this constitutional
amendment required a two thirds majority of both houses of the legislature,
meaning
either party would be unlikely to muster enough votes to raise taxes. After a
marathon of political wrangling to finally pass a very late budget, a literal
handful
of Republicans agreed to vote for the budget on the condition that the state
put a
number of awful amendments on the ballot.
Bait and switch number one: Today, California's preparing to constitutionally
limit
spending in order to build up a rainy day fund, which I assume will be a juicy
target
for future tax cutters.
Bait and switch number two: Another amendment will securitize the lottery,
which was
initially passed as a way to help fund education, given the constraints of
Proposition 13. To make the lottery money more attractive to prospective
bondholders,
the link between the lottery and education will be broken.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA
95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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