Results tagged “deficit”

Billions taken healthcare and education, a 32 percent hike under consideration in the University system, the list could go on. The big question is, after this year, what more is there to cut?

Although the L.A. City Council yesterday voted to move forward with cutting close to 1,000 jobs, many through layoffs, and making employees take 26 days off through furloughs, they still plan to negotiate a deal with a union to avoid such action. The council called their move a safety net, buying time so they can find a way to avoid the job cuts and furloughs while still eliminating a $405-million budget deficit.

Facing a $405-million budget deficit, Mayor Villaraigosa earlier this summer asked city employees to share the sacrifice. A major deal was struck with civilian union employees by letting 2,400 employees retire early within five years. That plan needed City Council approval and with months of no action, things have changed.

We still don't have a budget as of this moment, but Governor Arnold Scwharzenegger says there is a "good shot" of the deficit deal being approved today, he told reporters this afternoon. Meanwhile, the California Democratic Party today filed a complaint about Schwazenegger's ad (seen above) about the budget. The ad is officially done under the auspices of a political committee, but Democrats allege it violates law.

Following up on an LAist story published last week, the San Jose Mercury News spoke to Governor Schwarzenegger's office about a letter from the National Park Service to the state about closing parks. In that letter, Pacific regional director Jon Jarvis, informed Schwarzenegger that closing some 69 parks that received funding in the past jeopardized all future funding and that a handful of parks deeded to the state from the feds, including part of Point Mugu near Malibu, could be repossessed.

Both legislative houses met today to vote on the a budget revision aiming to fix a $24 billion deficit with no success. Out of 20 bills, only one was voted on and it failed. While Assembly Budget Chair Noreen Evans mentioned the State Parks fee idea, none of the two questions regarding them were addressed. Traci Verardo-Torres of the California State Parks Foundation's told LAist she wasn't sure "if state parks have lived another day or state parks have lived to be fought over for another day. As far as we're concerned, were still fighting to keep our parks open." State Controller John Chiang said today he will start issuing IOUs as payment for bills starting July 2nd if a solution is not quickly found.

Thousands of teachers are still going to lose their job at the end of the month, but at least 500 of them are saved. "Many of the teachers who were at risk of losing their jobs, as well as their supporters, camped out overnight at LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A. to protest the proposed layoffs," says CBS2, who received the layoff information from LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines exclusively.

Come June 15th--that's just 13 days from now--the state of California could be a path to having no money, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told the legislature yesterday. Tough choices lie ahead, such as those we've been hearing about since last week like the cutting of most all state parks and all of welfare. He's urging lawmakers to pass those budget proposals within the next two weeks, a short time to solve a $24 billion deficit.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest budget proposal suggest eliminating welfare. If that would happen, California would be the only state without such a program. "You would think they would legalize weed before this," quipped Shane Hirschman, a multimedia designer, on Twitter.

The economy is worse than anyone could predict. It's so bad, the budget passed--just a few weeks ago--is already falling short $8 billion because of it.

"People think show business was in Hollywood, but I think [Ronald] Reagan was absolutely right," Schwarzenegger said on 60 Minutes last night. "If he wouldn't have the training in acting, this would have been a very difficult job." Did the ability to act help bring the state to a $40 billion budget gap, too?

Budget, schmudget. According to the Daily News, despite our state's whopping "$42 billion budget hole" that is spawning "severe cuts to state programs and possibly layoffs" the folks hammering out the budget still get $173 a day "on top of their $116,208 annual salaries" for, you know, incidentals like parking and lunch and hotel laundry services.

This is what's being predicted for California: a $14.8 billion deficit by June 30--then $41.8 billion by 2010, according to revenue forecasts by the state Department of Finance. The LA Times wraps it nicely in their deck: "Unless legislators take control, gap could become the largest in modern California history, analysts say. But a solution seems unlikely as Gov. Schwarzenegger scolds lawmakers for failing to act."

Members of a Los Angeles City Council committee took 50 hours to deliberate, but finally put their stamp of approval on a $7 billion budget for the city.

In light of ongoing news about the city's budget crisis (a predicted $295 million dollar deficit), information about the number of people employed by the city who earn more than $100,000 is not sitting well with some.