Supervisor Don Knabe Calls for Bi-Partisan Budget Solution

State deficit now projected to be $28 billion.

By Jerry Bernstein

Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe, speaking before Cerritos Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon Feb. 10, said the only way to solve the state budget deficit is for a bi-partisan solution. “I have news for you, “he stated, “the state deficit of $25 billion is now $28 billion.”
He said there was a new buzzword, “realignment.” He said everyone in the room from businessmen to educators, will be impacted.
“We had a $500 billion economy in Los Angels County and the region. We represent the 19th largest economy in the world driven by imports and exports. Today we are in a very stressful economic situation.” He said a look at the last 30 years reveals the county of Los Angeles and its 80 cities have added almost three million residents to the population and only about 500,000 jobs. That is not a good sign,” he stated. “ The city of Los Angeles, for example, which represents 40 percent of the county’s population, has added approximately one million residents since 1980 but has not created one new net job.” He said we can’t print money to solve the budget deficit. It’s all about creating jobs. Here in Los Angeles County the employment rate is 12.7 percent.
He said the state legislature has introduced nine new bills He wanted to know who was carrying the bill to cover the $28 billion deficit. He said he has accepted the governor’s plan to give local government more responsibility [realignment]. However, he warned local government must be careful that his proposal comes with attached purse strings. “We cannot allow the governor to resolve the state’s budget deficit on the backs of local government.” He cited as an example the proposal to move state inmates to county jails. Who is going to pay for their incarceration? he asked.
Knabe said programs shifted from the state to the counties in 2004-5 were not accompanied by complete state funding. “The state still owes us about $250,000. He said California has the highest number of four-year colleges and universities in the country. “If we eliminated every state university and college and closed down the California Highway Patrol we still would not have enough money to resolve the budget deficit. “We need to create jobs that will generate revenue.
He said a $28 billion deficit was not going to be resolved in a short period of time. What is needed as we move forward is to solve it in a bi-partisan way. He said he believes by working together with our state representatives we can solve the deficit. “We know what we have to do,” he asserted.
Asked how long he believes it will take the state to climb out of the hole it is in, the Supervisor said he believes it will take about three years. He said he believes the “realignment” will mean everything will have to be renegotiated, in the field of education and in business. He said the good old days are gone. He believes government employees will have to start contributing to their pension fund like everyone else.