This year marked the second consecutive year that I had the honor of participating in the Assembly's Holocaust Memorial Project. The Holocaust Memorial Project pairs student interviewers with a local Holocaust survivor. The interviews are videotaped and serve to promote awareness and to preserve the personal remembrances of this dark chapter in our human history.

This year, sophomore high school students Molly Smith and Marcel Grangien of San Luis Obispo's Mission College Prep interviewed local resident Mr. Paul Wolff. Paul's wife Marion was the subject of last year's Holocaust Memorial Project interview. The well prepared students asked questions about Mr. Wolff's experiences and heard first hand stories they could otherwise only have heard about in books or documentary films.

Paul Wolff is a retired Cal Poly architecture professor who during his career emphasized having his young students consider how to design buildings and spaces that were accessible to all. During the interview Mr. Wolff alluded to his experience as a youth in which, even before the Jews, Hitler targeted the disabled for vicious attacks. Mr. Wolff said that designing a building without accommodating the disabled was in effect a way of saying that you did not care about them or that you did not recognize that they exist.

Mr. Wolff's advocacy has had its effect locally where the 11th annual Accessibility Advocacy Awards were handed out this month to recognize and honor an individual, a business and a community organization for outstanding efforts to create a more accessible San Luis Obispo County.

I am extremely grateful to Mr. Wolff for taking the time to share his story and to Molly and Marcel for their hard work preparing for the interview. Efforts such as the Holocaust Memorial Project are crucial to ensure that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Click HERE to view the 2012 Holocaust Memorial Project video.

Please join me in celebrating Armed Forces Day as we pay tribute to the brave men and women who sacrifice so much to protect our freedom and security.

This year the United States Congress recognizes Armed Forces Day on May 19 to honor the men and women who are serving in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard and National Guard. 

The event is Free of charge and refreshments will be provided.

WHAT: Armed Forces and 33rd Assembly District Veteran of the Year Recognition Ceremony

WHEN: Armed Forces Day Saturday, May 19, 2012 2:00p.m. - 4:00p.m.

WHERE: The City of Lompoc Veterans Memorial Hall, 100 E. Locust Avenue, Lompoc, CA

Due to limited seating, please RSVP to my District Office at (805) 549-3381. And feel free to call for more information. I hope to see you there!

Men and women across California bravely serve their country as members of our Armed Forces. They volunteer to serve without hesitation, nor fear for their own safety. They selflessly commit themselves to the greater good and protecting our freedoms.

Unfortunately, many veterans face difficulties when they return home to California. An unsteady economy and slow job growth have done little to ease the transitions for veterans. Service men and women are expected to instantly make the switch to civilian life, with little support from those of us they fought so hard to protect. This is unacceptable; when a veteran returns home, it is our duty to ensure that they have the resources necessary to transition back to civilian life.

To show our gratitude for their service and to ensure that our veterans have the resources they need to transition back to civilian life I am honored to be a co-author of the following pieces of legislation:

AB 1592 (Olsen) - Authorizes any county or city to grant financial assistance, relief, and support to disabled veterans by waiving building and inspection fees.

AB 1807 (Cook, Achadjian Co-Author) - Provides that the court shall not order a child custody evaluation, as part of its review of the temporary order upon the return of the deploying party. It also urges courts, to prioritize the calendaring of child custody cases to avoid unnecessary delays and ensure that parties who serve in the military are not penalized for their service by a delay in appropriate access to their children. 

AB 2250 (Gaines, Achadjian Co-Author) - Allows an active member or their spouse of the Armed Forces or the State Military Reserve who has served at least 2 years aor a veteran who has received an honorable discharge to be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges, and request for the exemption at the University of California.

ACR 122 (Achadjian) - Calls upon the State to honor and recognize the service and sacrifice made by members of the Armed Forces and their families and declares May 19, 2012 as Armed Forces Day.

The conventional wisdom holds that California has massively reduced government spending since the beginning of the recession in 2007.  A few press accounts have picked up on talking points that Governor Brown has been promoting: state government has shrunk, General Fund spending is down, and state employment has been reduced (1).  Additionally, the Senate leader frequently declares that the State has cut spending by $65 billion in the last few years. 

Unfortunately, the data just does not show that spending in California has declined.  An analysis of data from the Department of Finance shows:

• Overall spending has grown from $194.3 billion to $213.9 billion from the beginning of the recession in 2007-8 to 2011-12.
• Per Capita spending has increased by roughly $500 per person during that same timeframe.
• General Fund spending is down while General Fund programs have continued to grow but were paid for by non-General Fund sources such as special funds and federal funds. In the case of realignment, General Fund programs were simply renamed.
• State employment has grown by 20,000 in the last 10 years.

Important Budget Terminology

General Fund Spending: When politicians talk about spending on the state budget or the state budget deficit, they are usually talking about General Fund spending.  General Fund spending is spending for programs that are not paid for with special fee-supported funds or federal funding and represents approximately 67% of all state spending.  General Fund revenues primarily include personal income, sales and corporation taxes. (2) In the Governor's 2012-13 budget, General Fund expenditures are expected to rise by 7%, up from $86.5 to $92.6 billion. (3)

Realigned State Programs: A new category of spending is associated with General Fund programs realigned to local governments in October 2011.  Realigned programs continue to operate with a portion of the state sales tax and other state revenues but are operated by local agencies.  Frequently, legislators act as if transferring these programs reduced state spending which is not true.  These programs are simply operated at the local level using a state funding source.  Realigned programs are expected to cost taxpayers $5.8 billion in 2012-13. (4) 

Other Funds:  In addition to General Fund and Realignment spending, each agency also spends special funds, bond funds and federal funds.  In 2012-13 the Governor's budget assumes that the state will spend $39.8 billion using special funds, $5 billion in bond funds and $72.8 billion in federal funds.  Total spending in 2012-13 from all sources of funding is expected to top $210.1 billion. (5)

While General Fund Spending Is Down, Total Spending Has Been On The Rise. 

As General Fund resources dwindled during the recession, the state relied more and more on other funding sources to maintain programmatic spending.  On the books, it looks like General Fund spending declined when in reality, General Fund programs were simply funded by fee-supported special funds and federal funds.  Realignment is an example where the state simply redefined $5.6 billion in former General Fund spending as no longer General Fund. No programs have been reduced or eliminated through this process.  It simply reduces spending on the state's main ledger, the General Fund ledger. 

Because of the budget manipulations, General Fund spending has declined from the high of $103 billion in 2007-08 to $92.1 billion in 2011-12. (6)  However, total spending grew from $194.3 billion in 2007-08 to $213.9 billion, $19.6 billion during the same time frame. (7)

Per Capita Spending Grew by $500 during the recession

Per Capita spending clearly demonstrates the trend of the state's overall spending increase.  The use of used fund shifts, special fund taxes, fee increases, and federal funds to avoid making permanent spending reductions has pushed total state spending to roughly $5,800 per capita in 2010-11, up from $5,300 in 2007-08. (8)  

When is a "Cut" Not Really a "Cut"? 

For the average Californian, a spending cut means that spending is reduced year over year.  In Sacramento budget speak, it means that spending did not grow at a rate that meets the expectation of advocates for the various state programs.  From 2007, when the recession began, until this year, only the 2011-12 budget saw a decline in total state spending.  That decline, $1.8 billion in an overall budget of $215.7 billion, represented less than 1% of the total budget.  Every other budget from 2007-08 to 2012-13 saw an increase in overall spending. (9)  In contrast, economists found that the average family saw their personal income decline 9.9% during the recession. (10)

What Does $65 billion in Spending Increases Look Like?

If the budget had grown by the $65 billion advocated by the spending lobby in Sacramento, General Fund spending would top $156.6 billion in 2012-13.  This would represent a 71% increase in overall spending in General Fund programs in just 5 short years.  Policy makers should ask whether this level of spending makes sense in light of the fact that family income declined 9.9% during the same time period and is projected to grow slowly over the next decade.

State Employment Grows 

While there does seem to be a relationship between the strength of the economy and state jobs, state employment has increased by more than 20,000 workers over the last 10 years. (11)  In fact, state employment grew during the first two years of the recession, topping out at 350,609. 

There have been some position reductions associated with the Governor's hiring freeze and workforce cap.  But the Governor last year requested and received several hundred new positions.  Most pointedly, there is a little evidence so far that the realignment initiative, which shifted $5.6 billion in state programs to local agencies, has resulted in mass layoffs for state workers, even as programs are shifted to local control using state funds.  In fact, state employment has grown from 341,000 employees to just under 344,000 employees since the Governor took office.

References:

(1) Ventura County Star

(2) California Department of Finance

(3) Governor's Budget Summary 2012-13, page 17

(4) Governor's Budget Summary 2012-13, page 73

(5) California Department of Finance

(6) The Department of Finance scores General Fund spending in 2011-12 as $86.5 billion.  However, this discounts the fact that $5.6 billion in General Fund programs continue but have been shifted to local agencies to administer.  These programs continue and do not constitute a true reduction in General Fund expenditures since they are being funding with 1.065% of the state sales tax and a new fee administered by the state.  This brings total apples to apples General Fund spending to $92.1 billion.

(7) California Department of Finance

(8) Schedule 6, Governor's Budget Summary 2012-13.

(9) California Department of Finance

(10) Sentier Research

(11) Schedule 6, Governor's Budget Summary 2012-13.