カリフォルニア州のシュワルツネッガー知事と議会代表は20日、263億ドルの財政赤字解消のむけた予算協議で、ついに合意に至りました．
(ロイター 米カリフォルニア州、知事と議会が財政赤字解消・予算均衡で合意)
シュワルツェネッガー知事は、「歳出案には増税は含まれていない」とご満悦のようですが、予算の合意案を見てみると、歳出カットは263億ドルのうち156億ドルのみ．残りは、来年度に問題を先延ばしという印象です．
歳出カット 156億ドル
義務教育:60億ドル
州立大学：30億ドル
刑務所：12億ドル
地方自治：43億ドル
その他
借入 21億ドル
収入増：39億ドル
会計操作 27億ドル
1. 給与先送り効果
州職員の2010年6月30日の給与支払日を7月1日に変更することにより、1か月分の給与を来年度予算に先送り．これにより今年度予算12億ドルの先送り効果あり．
２．市・郡自治体
地方自治体の固定資産税から20億ドルの借入．3年後に金利付きで返済する．
Source: NBC Los Angeles
郡や市自治体は、これに猛反発．ロサンゼルス郡は、もしこの予算案が可決すれば、ロサンゼルス郡は、歳入4億2000万ドルを不法に借り出すとして州を訴える方針です．
Source: Mercurynews.com
率直な感想として、自治体からの訴訟リスクを除けば、あと1年はなんとかなる．でも、長期的には財政問題の先送りです．
郡や市の自治体が訴訟し、勝訴すれば、州の財政危機が再燃するリスクがあります．
州の財政危機の解決には、増税なしにありえないのに、増税は3分の2の議会承認が必要というハードルの高さは、自分で自分の首を絞めているようなものです．
州の失業率11.6%という最悪の経済環境では、政府によるサポートが一番必要な時期なのに、逆に支出削減しかオプションがないことは、とても不幸なことです．
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P.S. 州予算合意の詳細
- $6 billion from K-12 schools and community colleges over a two-year span.
- Nearly $3 billion from the University of California and California State University systems.
- $1.3 billion from Medi-Cal, the state's health care program for the poor. Also includes a proposal to bill the federal government for more money.
- Saves $1.3 billion by retaining three unpaid furlough days per month for state workers.
- Includes $1.2 billion in unallocated cuts to the state Department of Corrections. Does not include Schwarzenegger's proposal to release some inmates early.
- Cuts $528 million from CalWORKS, the state's welfare-to-work program, partly by increasing sanctions for families that fail to meet work requirements. Schwarzenegger had proposed eliminating the program entirely.
- Cuts $124 million from Healthy Families, a program that provides health insurance for 930,000 low-income children. Lawmakers hope nonprofits, foundations and other groups can fill in some of the losses.
- Cuts $226 million from the state's in-home supportive services program for the frail and disabled. Also includes Schwarzenegger's plans to require fingerprinting of caregivers and recipients, and would require caregivers to undergo background checks.
- Cuts about $8 million from state parks, allowing the majority of state parks, beaches and attractions to stay open. Some parks are likely to close, however, based on popularity and use.
Other Measures:
- Borrows about $2 billion from local governments' property tax revenue, money that would have to be repaid with interest in three years. As a concession to angry local officials, the deal would prioritize repayment of the so-called Proposition 1A money after schools and bond holders are paid.
- Takes $1 billion in redevelopment money from local governments.
- Takes $1 billion in transportation funding from local governments.
- Speeds up collection of 2010 personal income and corporate taxes to bring in revenue earlier than anticipated.
- Sells off part of the State Compensation Insurance Fund, which the administration values at $1 billion. The fund is a quasi-governmental agency that is the state's largest writer of workers' compensation insurance
- Allows limited expansion of oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast, bringing in $100 million in the current fiscal year.
- Eliminates the Integrated Waste Management Board and the Board of Geologists and Geophysicists, which Schwarzenegger had targeted as wasteful and unnecessary.
- Gives school districts the option of cutting the school year by five days.
- Defers state employee paychecks by one day for a paper savings of $1.2 billion, which has been criticized by some as a gimmick. Instead of being issued on June 30, 2010, the paychecks would be issued on July 1, the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year.
- Gives the governor authority to pursue the sale of about 10 state-owned buildings as a potential revenue source in future years, including the Orange County Fairgrounds, the Public Utilities Commission Building in San Francisco and the Ronald Reagan State Office Building in Los Angeles.
- Rejects Schwarzenegger's proposal for a surcharge on homeowner insurance policies to boost funding for emergency services. The surcharge would have averaged about $48 a year per homeowner.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
