It's not just balancing the state's income and spending but, as Governor Brown has championed, creating sufficient savings to offset dramatic declines in revenues during recessions. As Governor Brown has reported, the next recession could leave the state $50 billion in the hole. In order to maintian public services during times that are the most difficult for the state's citizens, we need to put away money now for the next inevitable recession.
The preservation of our crumbling roads and infrastructure are estimated to be underfunded by $135 billion over the next 10 years. Some of the monies traditionally used for roads have been diverted to pay for transportion bonds the voters understood would be repaid from the General Fund. The first thing to do is stop raiding $1 billion in commercial truck weight fees from the State Highway Account and find the money to pay for the bonds from the general fund by using surplus tax revenue and reducing other state expenditures. But that will only reduce the need by $10 billion in the next 10 years leaving us $125 billion short, or $12.5 billion a year. To put that in a more individual perspective last year's gasoline sales were aproximately 13.6 billion gallons making the shortfall $0.88 per gallon of gas sold. The question is, are our citizens willing to pay to protect our investment in our transportion system?
Education is the back bone of our civilization. Education isn't a guarantee for success in life, but it is almost a certainty that life with an education will be better than without. It benefits not only the individual, but reduces crime and unintended pregnancies, while the individual's increased productivity leads to higher tax revenues. Education is truly a win-win for all. Our children's educational attainment must be one of the most important goals of government.
