General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: California Faces Huge Budget Surplus [View all]truedelphi
(32,324 posts)Is talking about a truth.
Illinois is currently in terrible shape. I imagine that had it saved for a rainy day, it might not be in such terrible shape. i don't know the particulars - I live out here in the West Coast.
California is in terrible shape also - we have "on paper" a surplus - but many counties are hurting. The county I live in has watched as teachers are pink slipped, and libraries are having to worry. My county was spending some 17 millions of dollars a year on education, and now is attempting to make ends meet with between 9 and ten million.
That is a huge cut. If all the cuts to all necessary programs are made up, I am betting we won't see much of a surplus.
The problem with a surplus is that often it gets spent on ridiculous items, and then once another economic downturn hits, there is no back up. I watched how California had so much money it didn't know what to do with that money back in the late 1990's. Then the dot com collapse hit the state hard, and we were back to square one.
The idea of saving for a rainy day is not a bad idea. I think it should not be seen as an attack on whichever party is in office, but simply as the right thing to do. If every partisan voice says, "No, no way! -- the idea of saving a surplus is bad, as it is an attack on MY party," then we will never arrive at a sensible way of handling a state budget.