XPost: alt.california, talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
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   From: incompetent.democrat.asshole.pelosi.too@sacbee.com   
      
   SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Legislature on Thursday rejected   
   many of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s most difficult budget cuts, choosing instead to   
   speed-up a temporary tax increase on some businesses to help address an   
   estimated $45 billion deficit while preserving spending on many social   
   safety net programs.   
      
   The budget lawmakers approved is not the state’s final spending plan. Newsom   
   and legislative leaders are still negotiating how to fix the shortfall   
   before the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. But lawmakers had to pass   
   a balanced budget by Saturday or else they would forfeit their six-figure   
   salaries — a rule voters approved in 2010 to prevent the types of budget   
   stalemates that had delayed negotiations in the past.   
      
   That is why Thursday’s vote was not really a public rebuke of Newsom, a   
   Democrat who for the most part has had a good relationship with a   
   Legislature dominated by members of his own party. Instead, the vote   
   highlights the differences between Newsom, a second-term governor who many   
   believe holds presidential aspirations, and a liberal state Legislature that   
   is often more willing to take risks.   
      
   While Newsom’s budget proposal preserved most of the state’s major   
   assistance programs, he included a number of smaller cuts that angered his   
   Democratic allies. He proposed to stop paying for in-home caretakers for   
   some disabled immigrants on Medicaid. He wants to eliminate a program that   
   helps provide housing for families with incomes less than $13,000 per year.   
   And he suggested delaying a rate increase for organizations that care for   
   people with intellectual disabilities.   
      
   To reject these cuts, lawmakers needed to find more money. They found it by   
   taking one of Newsom’s ideas and making it happen faster.   
      
   Newsom proposed temporarily stopping some businesses from deducting   
   financial losses from their state taxable income, thus increasing their tax   
   bill. It has become a common way to increase revenue during budget   
   shortfalls. The Legislature chose to do this, too, but their plan would   
   start the tax increase one year earlier. That generated an extra $5 billion   
   in revenue compared with Newsom’s plan.   
      
   Lawmakers also found large budget cuts in other places. They want to cut $1   
   billion out of the state’s prison budget, arguing the money isn’t needed   
   now   
   that the prison population is about half of what it was two decades ago. And   
   they want to cancel a $400 million loan to PG&E that would help extend the   
   life of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.   
      
   Those are just some of the disagreements that the Newsom administration and   
   lawmakers must resolve by the end of the month. On Thursday, both sides   
   indicated they have made good progress. Senate President Pro Tempore Mike   
   McGuire said lawmakers could be voting on a final budget deal by the end of   
   next week.   
      
   “I firmly believe the final budget that we’re going to have in front of us   
   here next week will follow the same framework that’s in front of this body   
   here today,” he said.   
      
   One major issue that has yet to be addressed by either side is what to do   
   about a minimum wage increase for health care workers that is scheduled to   
   start on July 1. Newsom signed a law last year that would eventually raise   
   health care workers’ minimum wage to $25 per hour over the next decade.   
      
   The wage increase is expected to cost the state hundreds of millions of   
   dollars in increased wages for some state workers and increased payments in   
   the state’s Medicaid program, according to an analysis by the University of   
   California-Berkeley Labor Center. Newsom has said he wants to delay the   
   minimum wage increase, but he so far has been unable to get an agreement   
   from the state Legislature.   
      
   Republicans, who don’t have enough numbers to sway policy decisions and say   
   they were left out of the budget negotiations with Democrats, criticized the   
   Legislature’s spending plan as unsustainable.   
      
   Republican Assemblymember Heath Flora said raising taxes on businesses to   
   help close the deficit would be “an economy killer,” adding “our citizens   
   are not here to provide overdraft protections.”   
      
   “We can’t continue to make up the lie that tax increases are a solution to   
   bad management,” he said.   
      
   Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener defended the tax proposal, noting it was   
   just seven years ago that Congress slashed the federal corporate tax rate by   
   40%.   
      
   “All we are asking here during a difficult budget year is to be part of the   
   solution,” Wiener said. “This is a very reasonable approach.”   
      
   https://apnews.com/article/california-legislature-budget-gov-gavin-newsom-   
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