Years ago there was a commercial that was set in an operating row and ended with:
“You’re not Dr. Stewart!”
“No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”
What follows is a cursory explanation of the financial conundrum that California has put itself in.
From Townhall:
The priorities of the leaders of California and Los Angeles over the last decade have been homelessness, climate change, and providing services to undocumented migrants.
-Homelessness
Since 2019, California has invested $27 billion in homelessness, or about 4.5 billion per year. That amount does not include spending on firefighting, police, or emergency medical services for the homeless. Nor does it include the $40 billion the state spent on affordable housing.
-Undocumented migrants:
California spends over $30 billion per year to provide benefits and services to migrants who came to the US illegally, according to a recent cost analysis by the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). The California Budget and Policy Center estimates that they contribute up to $9 billion annually in state and local taxes.
-Climatechange:
And California will spend over $48 billion on climate programs over the next seven years, or about seven billion annually.
All of this spending in the face of an unconscionable state debt!
In the fiscal year of 2024, California’s state debt stood at about 158.05 billion U.S. dollars. Comparatively, the state’s debt was 57.17 billion U.S. dollars in 2000.
Now while I am neither a CPA nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, even I can see that California’s financial situation is not sustainable.
1/18/25