FCL NEWSLETTER -- February, 2002

Budget Belt Tightening:
The Fight for a Fair State Budget

The budget dance has begun, and this year it has an unusual twist! The Governor asked a special session of the Legislature to approve some $2 billion in spending cuts for the current fiscal year in order to address a sharp decline in tax revenues due to the recession. Consumers noticed the state?s fiscal distress on January 1st when a quarter cent sales tax increase was triggered by falling treasury reserves.

About $240 million of the Governor?s reductions affect Health and Human Services, including Healthy Families, Low-Income Home-Energy Assistance, local trauma centers, Child Welfare Services, Expanded Access to Primary Care, and foster care programs. The Governor also delivered his revenue and spending plan for fiscal year 2002-03 to the Legislature. The Governor?s budget weighs more than five pounds, and gives insight into every agency of state government. It outlines the education, public safety, health, transportation, and other services funded by the State, and this year it proposes some $742 million in reductions to human service programs. (Budget summaries can be viewed on the internet at www.dof.ca.gov)

The Department of Finance has estimated there is a $12 billion gap between projected revenues and expenditures that must be met by reducing spending on State programs, or by tapping additional sources of revenue. As the year progresses, these estimates will be reviewed, and in mid-May the Governor will present revised budget figures. By and large, the Governor?s January proposals focus on reducing state spending as much as possible, and finding as many sources of revenue as possible without suggesting anything that could be called a tax increase.

Several legislators are urging that steps be taken to assure that important state services do not shoulder an unreasonable share of the budget burden. As an alternative to cutting into essential programs, Assembly Member Carole Migden (D., San Francisco), and Senator Dede Alpert (D., San Diego) suggest restoring the vehicle license fee, and Senator John Burton (D., San Francisco) suggests restoring the top-bracket income tax rates.

Both of these revenue sources were abandoned only recently, when the state was running large surpluses, so estimates of probable income are fairly reliable ($2 billion for the income tax, $4 billion for the vehicle license fee). Together, they would cut the income/expenditure gap in half. Since people have been paying these sums recently, it is expected that public opposition would be mild when com-pared with the impact of reductions in education, food assistance and other important social services.

We will not know until much later in the process just how the pain of the budget gap is to be distributed. Some of the picture will clarify this month, when the Legislative Analyst releases an analysis of the Governor?s budget, with ?Perspectives and Issues? on the state?s fiscal health and major issues facing the Legislature. The Analyst has already released a report suggesting that the Governor?s plan is overly optimistic, and fails to resolve the state?s budgetary imbalance in subsequent years. (These documents are available online at www.lao.ca.gov)

Soon after the March Primary Election, budget subcommittees of each house will hold hearings to review the spending proposals for each state agency and department. These reviews will continue until late May or early June, when the subcommittees will report their proposals to the full budget committee of each house. By early June, the results of subcommittee reports will be found in Senate and Assembly budget proposals that will be reviewed by the Budget Conference Committee, consisting of three members from each house: four from the Democratic majority party and two from the Republican minority party. This committee, usually with assistance from the leadership in both houses and participation by the Governor, will attempt to resolve the issues left undecided due to disagreements between the two houses.

The strategy of policy-makers in this process is to satisfy their core constituencies while distributing the burden of substantial belt-tightening in a way that will be regarded as fair. In an election year, the Governor is especially interested in having the Legislature take most of the responsibility for any revenue increase. The outcome will make a great difference for the most vulnerable of Californians.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send letters to the editor of your local newspaper and to your state representatives with factual descriptions of adverse effects of belt-tightenings that have already occurred in programs you think are important. Such facts can help policy-makers make decisions about which programs are really needed.

The Value of A Voice:
The Effects of Letter-Writing

At a recent meeting of activists, someone asked how to be sure a letter would be read by people in positions of power. The speaker pointed out that the true value of writing often turns out to be in the process itself, because it better informs our own understanding of the issue:
1. We must place ourselves in the recipient?s shoes.
2. We must re-examine why we feel the way we do about the issue.
3. Our thoughts become clearer, and we are able to simplify our reasoning.
4. We become more articulate on the subject.

After we have written carefully and truthfully, we can speak with more enthusiasm and confidence and can better engage in discussions with our friends and family. This is the true source of informed public opinion.

As FCL celebrates its 50th anniversary, many dedicated individuals are working together to strengthen the organization so it can continue to effectively ?speak truth to power? for the next 50 years and beyond. The FCL Board created a Development &Outreach Committee last fall ?to facilitate the creation of relationships that would lead to increased funding for the work of FCL and the FCL Education Fund.?

At its first meeting on January 12, 2002, the committee proposed organizing an outreach event in the San Francisco Bay Area, producing a video highlighting FCL?s 50th Anniversary, and increasing the cost of a newsletter subscription to generate needed income for FCL services.

The Committee?s work plan calls for efforts to promote planned giving and to support the involvement of non-Quakers (who contribute a majority of FCL?s income). Challenges include strengthening support by younger donors and southern Californians.

Committee Clerk Chris Mohr of San Francisco has been instrumental in gaining support for the new committee and its mission. Other committee members include FCL Co-Clerk George Millikan, FCL Education Fund Treasurer Millee Livingston, FCL Treasurer Jim Updegraff, FCL Education Fund Board member Bob Maynard, Carole Lutness of the Orange Grove Friends Meeting in Pasadena, Betsy Morris of the Strawberry Creek Friends Meeting in Berkeley, Jack deBeers of the San Francisco Friends Meeting, and Florence Webb of the Marin Friends Meeting. FCL Co-Clerk Shirley Price is an ex-officio member.

Ira Saletan joined FCL?s staff in December 2001 and will travel throughout the state to meet with FCL supporters to promote activities that increase financial support for FCL. Sandy Soghikian?s contributions as a part-time consultant supporting southern California outreach activities will be missed, and recruitment of someone to continue this work is a priority.

The FCL Executive Committee approved a 2002 budget that calls for a substantial increase in expenses and income. The $239,000 budget for this year will enable FCL to strengthen its staff and overall effectiveness. FCL?s ability to meet fundraising objectives will depend on a strong response from FCL and FCL Education Fund supporters.

To help FCL reach its goals, the Committee is planning regular fund appeals and special events, including annual dinners. Other fundraising sources include Friends Meeting contributions and events, bequests, and grants. The FCL Education Fund will continue to be an important source of reimbursement funding for costs associated with educational activities. Contributions to the FCL Education Fund are tax deductible.

FCL Newsletter, February 1977, Vol. 26, No. 2
ECONOMIC CONVERSION

The technology of war contributes heavily to California?s economy. It provides jobs, returns a sizeable profit to business and keeps the tax rolls high. It also keeps the state in the business of armed conflict and death.

A number of groups throughout the state are organizing to try to shift California from dependence on war to a commitment to peace by finding ways to convert to non-military industry. These groups are sitting down with officials from General Motors, Lockheed, Aerojet and Rockwell International to discuss ways that these companies could produce housing, mass transit, tools and other consumer goods.

FCL Newsletter, October 1977, Vol. 26, No. 9
POLICE, POLICE EVERYWHERE

The tendency to involve law enforcement agencies in solving social problems is on the increase. Police are seen as ?the answer? not only to crime but to mental illness, marital difficulties, problems with raising children and political threats. When police lack the authority to intervene in such situations, the legislature is called upon to give police the latitude they need to be responsive. The result is more laws, more police discretion and less community participation in problem solving. . . .

SB 923 (D. Carpenter, R., Irvine) makes it a felony to threaten to commit a crime causing other people to fear for their safety. The bill defines ?terrorist? acts as ones which create a climate of fear and intimidation by means of threats or violent actions in order to achieve social and political goals. . . . [F]arm workers picketing an orchard . . . [and] students marching or sitting in on campuses could be accused of felonies under SB 923. . . .

You can have each issue of the FCL Newsletter mailed to your home or place of business, simply by mailing a request to our office, together with a check for $20 ($7 low-income). Bundle subscriptions to a meeting, congregation, or other group may also be arranged at a cost of $75.

Friends Committee on Legislation
926 J Street #707
Sacramento, CA 95814-2707
(916) 443-3734

This page was last updated March 10, 2002; it is supported by Peacetree.