Assemblymember Toni Atkins has announced that the California legislature have voted to adopt an on-time state budget. The budget closes the $20 billion structural deficit California faced just 18 months ago, turning it into a $2 billion surplus reserve by fiscal year 2015/2016.
Calling the budget “responsible but painful” Atkins said, “State spending, as a percentage of personal income, is the lowest it has been in forty years. General Fund spending as a percentage of our economy is at its lowest level since Ronald Reagan was governor. Social services have been cut back to 1980’s levels. At the same time, this budget protects and invests in public education this year and in the future, increasing funding for schools by $17 billion over the next four years.”
Atkins admitted that the budget also reflected cuts in every area warning, “We cannot continue to balance our state budget on cuts alone and new revenues are needed to eliminate our budget instability and to ensure that the basic services Californians need and value are not further jeopardized.”
