Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled his plan Monday morning to cut $12.5 billion dollars in state spending. The proposal calls for severe cuts to public services – including higher education, libraries, and services to the elderly and disabled – in order to combat a massive state deficit. 

Jerry Brown (Creative Commons)

The proposal resembles an intervention for California’s budget crisis. At the current levels of spending and revenue, the state is facing a $28 billion shortfall over the next 18 months. The proposed cuts would reduce the deficit to $17.2 billion.

Brown, at a press conference, said that it would take more than budgetary gimmicks to solve California's problems and that the state cannot afford to delay taking action.

"It's better to take our medicine now and get the state on a balanced footing," Brown said.

Brown's budget also asks voters to approve a five-year extension of 2009 tax increases. The proposals project a $12 billion raise in revenue, pending the tax extensions, which the public will vote on in a special election.

"We are cutting, we're extending the taxes, and we're restructuring, and I believe that's the way to go. It's going to be objected to, but I think there will be even more people who say, 'Thank God we're finally facing the music'," he said.

Among the most contentious proposals are the cuts to public education. The budget would cut a combined $1 billion from the UC and CSU systems. K-12 schools, which many feared would bear the brunt of the austerity measures, will not have to endure cuts, Brown said.

Brown’s proposal calls for a “vast and historic” government realignment plan to improve the efficiency of government and shift responsibility for many services to cities, counties and schools. Firefighting, mental health services, court security and child welfare services would be among the responsibilities shifted to local governments.

Brown’s office said on Wednesday that austerity measures would begin with a 25 percent cut to the governor’s office that includes the elimination of the education secretary and the first lady’s staff. This move would result in savings of about $7 million, a drop in the bucket.

Healthcare would also see harsh effects. Medi-Cal funding would be slashed, as would funding for mental health services and in-home care for the elderly and disabled.  

Los Angeles County Supervisors Zev Yarslavsky and Molina Garcia criticized the idea of government realignment in an op-ed in the L.A. Times Monday, saying it is not enough to pass on responsibility to local governments.

“If the state proposes to save itself money by shifting both program responsibilities and the funding for them to local governments, where will the savings be?” they wrote. “Can it really be that local governments are so much more efficient that citizens will receive the same or higher levels of public services at substantially reduced cost?”

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