Roads will be rougher, classrooms fuller and textbooks more tattered. The odds of encountering someone fresh out of prison will almost certainly be higher.More at the link. All the major pork constituencies are pissed.
If the budget deal crafted by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and top legislative leaders is passed by the Legislature and survives the inevitable court challenges, California will undergo perhaps the biggest downscaling of government in its history.
The state will be reshaped, at least for the short term, into a domain that is more efficient by necessity, but also noticeably shabbier, less generous and possibly more dangerous.
Those who will notice the biggest changes will be students and the poor as class sizes increase and health and welfare benefits shrink. The pace of government-sponsored redevelopment will slow, and some state parks will close.
"These cuts are real, they're going to be felt, they're going to be seen," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
Details remained vague Tuesday about precisely how the cuts would be made, but enough trickled out to allow a general overview.
See, "Opposition to State Budget Deal Mounts." And, "Cal State Approves 20% Fee Hike: Hundreds of Students Protest the Move, Which Comes on the Heels of a 10% Increase in May. And the Chancellor Warns of Mass Layoffs if the Faculty Rejects a Two-Day-a-Month Furlough."
Plus, the San Francisco Chronicle, "Inmate Release Plan Imperils State Budget Pace."
Related: Ace of Spades HQ, "Palin 1, Obama 0: California Budget Compromise Allows Drilling Off Santa Barbara Coast."
Video Hat Tip: MSNBC, "Schwarzenegger Wields Big Budget Knife: Governor Jokes About Signing Cars."
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