Even as California slowly emerges from the deepest recession in decades, state policy makers are wrestling with cavernous state and local deficits. Few have a better perspective on the budget issues facing our state than its top two elected fiscal officers: State Treasurer Bill Lockyer and State Controller John Chiang.
In an effort to help CPF members better understand the fiscal situations facing state and local governments, CPF interviewed Lockyer and Chiang, both of whom were decisively re-elected to their posts in 2010.
CPF: We've been hearing a lot about the state's critical fiscal situation. How bad a hole are we in?
LOCKYER: The anticipated revenues before the economic recession were 123 billion ... and we're at 83, so that gives you a sense of what the gap has been. That gap hits everybody. The recession hit us very hard in California. The housing sector was hit especially hard, and over a million Californians have lost their jobs. We feel that in the economic and revenue consequences. Added to that problem is that we've had these budgets for the past several years that were not honestly balanced. About three-quarters of the gimmicks that have been employed over the past few years just haven't worked.
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