A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon it adds up to real money.—Senator Everett Dirksen
Well, a billion dollars is just about the amount that February collections by California were under budget. It’s going to get worse.
April is the big month for California tax agencies. That’s when personal income tax returns (and payments) are due. Also due are first quarter estimated tax payments for individuals and corporations. Expect the April collections to be particularly grim.
I don’t know if the tax protests that have just begun in California will impact the coming budget debate in Sacramento—a debate that the Democrats really hope they avoided by passing the bad budget. But they won’t be able to sidestep the issue; states have to have balanced budgets and there’s no chance that California’s will be balanced based on the tax increases that just passed.
I’ve been a broken record on the subject. Massive cuts to state government are both needed and are coming. The legislature can postpone the day of reckoning, but they can’t stop it from happening. Of course, Democrats don’t want to cut union jobs (most government workers in California are unionized) but you can only squeeze so hard.
The signs are there for everyone to see as I wrote about earlier today. But many in Sacramento seem blind to the issue.