The Illinois budget impasse reminded me of California’s woes between 2008 and 2012, when passing a budget required two-thirds approval by the legislature. A hard-right Republican minority held the budget hostage during those years. The impasse resulted in a government shutdown rather than passing a budget that included higher taxes.
The state could not pay its bills, vendors were harmed, state services were curtailed, and state workers were furloughed. All of that was resolved when the law was changed to a simple-majority legislative vote to pass a budget along with a democratic governor.
Now we have a Democratic supermajority (able to override a gubernatorial veto), and we have a democratic governor, Jerry Brown. Some of our state taxes are higher than Illinois; however, the economy is healthy, the budget runs at a surplus, the unemployment rate is low, and there is no political strife. Like Illinois, we have a pension payment problem, but a collaborative legislature is addressing and resolving the issue.
It’s amazing what happens when politics and partisanship are replaced with the responsibility of just taking care of business.
— William Goldman, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
