July 15, 1996
California taxpayers should applaud the 1996-97 state budget for establishing a new series of priorities -- tax relief, education spending and public safety -- compared to budgets of the last few decades.
Since the 1960s, California taxpayers have seen taxes and public spending grow by 3,100%, which dramatically exceeds growth in population and cost of living. During this time, total state and local resources allocated to schools have diminished from almost 30% to just over 20% of the total. Transportation spending has dropped from 15% of total state and local spending to 5%. Public safety, as measured by police and fire expenditures, has remained fairly constant, as has the commitment to higher education.
California let itself become a high-tax state while at the same time allocating insufficient revenues for public education and public infrastructure. This has damaged California competitiveness.
California has lost ground over the last 40 years because social safety-net programs fostered dependency and systematically consumed greater and greater percentages of public spending.
If it were possible for the Governor and the Legislature to wave a magic wand and reestablish 29% of state and local resources for schools, California would rank first in the nation in the percentage of total resources going to schools, would rank fifth in the nation in per capita spending for public schools, and fourth in the nation when spending is measured in relation to personal income. This is a far cry from where we are at present: 44th in relation to personal income.
The challenge for the governor and Legislature will be to maintain the direction of the 1996-97 budget and move away from the patterns of the past, which were to fund failure, and move to restore competitiveness by funding priority needs of California's economic future.
-- Larry McCarthy is president of the California Taxpayers' Association (Cal-Tax).