Democratic Party of Contra Costa County

Before a home town crowd of about 70 people at the Concord City Council Chamber, State Senator Mark DeSaulnier went over a list of issues around the State budget and then fielded some audience questions on topics from the High Speed Rail issue to library services.  He went over with considerable pride Senate Bill 201 that allows for a new form of California Corporation where there is more than just the purpose of raising the stockholders equity as a goal, allowing a legal framework for corporations to have a flexible purpose and to take positions and policies that may promote the public good without being in conflict with shareholder expectations.  He then launched a long power point with numerous charts starting with a basic Rah Rah for California to point out that we are not on the bottom of the list of things before moving into the realm of Budgets. 

The questions from the Audience though at the end, were more interesting:

1. Alcohol

When asked to increase the difficulty to get licensees he fell back on his experience as a Restaurant and Bar owner. He said he could not get the votes to increase fees or alter the situation.  He believes that the recent events in Walnut Creek which was featured in the question is something that the City Council of Walnut Creek will deal with.

 2. High Speed Rail

He said he is opposed to the High Speed Rail project as currently proposed in the mid valley and will not vote for it.  He supports the concept of High Speed Rail but feels that it should be used first in corridors such as San Diego to LA and SF to San Jose/Sacramento and then as rider-ship develops expand it to a more integrated system.

3. Independent Health Services

He is a strong supporter of In Home Health Services and is very worried about the impact of the auto Trigger Cuts on that project which he sees as an overall saver of funds in the system.

4. State College Tuition Fees

When asked about the foreign students paying not enough on the College fees and that they are still heavily subsidized he was somewhat in agreement and said that the request to raise it to $500 a unit instead of $200 needs to be looked at in that committee’s work.

 5. On Cuts to Senior Services

He had a diplomatic response that there needs to be ‘Thoughtful’ applications to the cut in senior services if forced on by the failure of the revenue/sale tax measures in November.

6. Rain Day Fund

He replied that given the current budget amount the rain day provisions were very inadequate.  He also went back over the evolution of the elimination of major funds by Deukmejian refund and the failure to sustain the Vehicle License fees in the transition to Schwartzenegger after the recall election.

7. Library

A spirited plea was made for support of the libraries that are currently targeted to be eliminated from all state funding and thrown totally to the counties and cities to support.  While he acknowledged the need for libraries he did not hold up any real hope to save their funding though it was pointed out that even if the funds are greatly reduced from their current level of about $15 million it is a far greater problem to get a program of support started from a zero support to a reasonable one, rather than a meager support level increased when good times come.  A little levity was obtained when he was reminded of his lapsed membership in the local Friends of the Concord Library by the current President. 

8. Redevelopment and the Weapon Station

The elimination of the Redevelopment Agency posses problems for the Reuse Plan for the Concord Naval Weapon Station closure.  The idea of a relatively similar structure for specific base refinances is possible.  He advised that Assemblymember Bonilla has something on this and that it would be possible to get a sort of development zone going, but again it is a matter of getting votes in a very divided Sacramento. 

9. Over paying of Psychiatrist

There was a question about the payment of over $800,000 for a state psychiatrist, and while there was great restraint from the audience to chime in that the state is seriously crazy, the topic also shifted around to talk about the need for some help for facilities for the mentally disadvantaged and ill, but of course outrageous pay situations needs to be dealt with.

The Power Point Presentation

These points and charts have been getting a lot of duplicate play from both Assembly and Senate town hall meetings in Contra Costa. He covered these major points:

1.  California attracts 50% of the country’s venture capital

2. California is the home of foreign subsidiaries that have invested in the state and employ 570,000 people.

3. California debt as a ratio of its gross domestic product is at 20% the same as Alaska and less than NY and Massachusetts both of which are at 25%

4. Taxes and fees in California are not the highest in the nation and at 17% of GDP puts us at 15^th.

5. The State budget is highly restricted by the initiatives passed by the public.  That California has in the process the most complex method.  He suggested some form of legislative review or a process to allow for negotiations to resolve proposed iniatives.

6. He sees the 2/3rds super majority requirement as hurting the state on issues of revenue even though there was a budget majority initiative that did not extend to revenue issues.

7. The state budget is spent as follows:

            41% for Schools K-12

            10% for Schools College/University

            28% for Health and Human Services

             9% for Department of Corrections

             3% for judicial and legislative directives

             9% for other

8 The state income is subjected to large variations in the economy because it is highly dependent on income tax.  Income sources:

            61% Personal Income Tax

            21% Sales Tax

            10% Corporation Tax

             7% other taxes

9. California has reduced 15,000 positions and as a ratio of government employees to population is significantly less than the U.S. Government and several states including Texas.

10. Pension liabilities are between $100 and $500 billion and they are being revised in the difficult climate of take backs and adjustments.

11. Unemployment in the state is still high at over 10%

12. Current budget deal calls for $4.2 in cuts and $4.7 in revenues.  

13. Current shortfall is a major reduction from the 44 billion 4 years ago under Schwartzenegger and 20 Billion in the 2010=11 period and now it is at 9.3 billion with the proposed revenues and cuts bringing us close to balance.