5 ms·

5th largest in the world and yet where is all of the money going? California is in a huge deficit.

• jrobn 8y ago
  The US government doesn’t care about deficits, so it would seem.
  • DubiousPusher 8y ago
    This is not the US government's debt. It is debt belonging to the State of California. And California certainly does care about deficits. States do not have the same leeway handling their indebtedness that the federal government does.
• davidw 8y ago
  To landlords, mostly. If you look at the numbers, the deficit has mostly shrunk after some truly huge ones.
• genefriend 8y ago
  California budget deficit: $1.6 billion California GDP: $2.7 trillion I think California will be fine.
  • carbocation 8y ago
    "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." (Though, in the end, I agree with you.)
    • nradov 8y ago
      There's really no sensible comparison between an individual on a fixed income versus a sovereign with taxing authority.
  • jlmorton 8y ago
    Where do you come up with a $1.6 billion deficit? There is currently a $6.1 billion surplus, which actually understates the strength of the budget, given debt deleveraging.
    • DrScump 8y ago
      http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budget-trump-risks-20170110-story.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budge...
• r00fus 8y ago
  Interesting - this article seems to say the opposite: https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billion-budget-surplus-in-california-1515624022 https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billi...
• ddoolin 8y ago
  California has a high amount of debt, particularly per household, when compared to (some) other U.S. states. However, the last few years under governor Brown have led to a budget surplus for those years, which is commonly attributed to the tax hikes of Proposition 30, among better spending decisions. We're looking at a pretty substantial surplus for this year's budget, which will be finalized in June, and lawmakers have different ideas about what to do with it. Governor Brown wants to put it in the rainy day fund, conservatives largely want to enact tax relief for some Californians, and the state's liberal politicians largely want to spend it on other things. Personally, I'd like if California used at least the bulk of it to pay down some of our unfunded liabilities with regards to pension programs, of which we still have about $275 billion (of over $400 billion in total debt). There are plans to take care of these over the next 3 decades, but settling it a bit earlier never hurt.
  • DrScump 8y ago
    the last few years under governor Brown have led to a budget surplus for those years no, it wasn't a surplus. 2017 showed a $1.6 Billion deficit[0]. [0] http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budget-trump-risks-20170110-story.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budge...
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    • ddoolin 8y ago
      You're right -- due to some (must-have-been-pretty-awful) miscalculations about the cost of a certain program that pushed it into deficit territory. My mistake! I was also considering 2017 as this year since a budget spans two years. For completeness, CA roughly carried a deficit from '02-'03 to '12-'13, and then roughly a surplus from '13-'14 onwards, except for 2017.
  • nradov 8y ago
    Exactly. Fund the existing pension liabilities now while money is relatively cheap. Then transition all state employees to defined contribution retirement plans going forward so that it will be closer become impossible to ever have underfunded pension plans in the future.
• jedberg 8y ago
  Your data is a bit out of date. California has a surplus now. There is an underfunded pension but the payments aren't due for many years in the future.
  • DrScump 8y ago
    California has a surplus now. What budget year are you talking about, where an actual surplus was evident when the budget year closed? Projections are just projections and can be seriously wrong. A projected $2.8 billion surplus[0] quickly changed to being a $1.6 billion deficit[1]. [0] https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/17/66216/california-analyst-projects-2-8-billion-budget-sur/ https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/11/17/66216/california-analys... [1] http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budget-trump-risks-20170110-story.html http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-budge...
    • dmode 8y ago
      Your links are from Jan 2017. Those were projections. 2017-2018 was $6bn budget surplus on top a $8bn rainy day fund. Here's the WSJ link from Jan 2018 https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billion-budget-surplus-in-california-1515624022 https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billi...
• api 8y ago
  UK has a huge deficit too. Most highly developed countries do.
  • grandmczeb 8y ago
    Countries have the power to print money. California does not.
    • icebraining 8y ago
      Euro countries don't either.
      • gpderetta 8y ago
        UK is not in the eurozone
        • icebraining 8y ago
          I know, but GP also mentioned "most highly developed countries", and parent replied in the plural.
• jlmorton 8y ago
  California currently has a rainy day fund of $8 billion and a current budget surplus of $6.1 billion. https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billion-budget-surplus-in-california-1515624022 https://www.wsj.com/articles/jerry-browns-legacy-a-6-1-billi...
• craftyguy 8y ago
  Not even close to as bad as the world's largest economy and their deficit.